Sandra Reed
Sandra Reed | |
|---|---|
| File:Sandra Reed swallowing swords.jpg Signed photo of Sandra Reed swallowing swords | |
| Born | Mary Armstrong 1945 |
| Died | 2019 (aged 73–74) |
| Other names |
|
| Years active | 1960s—1980s |
| Employers |
|
| Spouse | Harold Spohn |
| Honours | Guinness Book of World Records holder for swallowing 5 swords at once, female (1975–1977) |
Sandra Dee Reed (1945–2019) was an American sword swallower born with albinism.[1] She started working for the Slim Kelly and Whitney Sutton sideshow of James E. Strates Shows at the age of 24 as a lecturer (educator on albinism) before being trained in sword swallowing[2] and later performing in the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus.[3]
Career
[edit | edit source]Reed was offered a job by showman Whitney Sutton at the New York State Fair in 1969, initially to be a lecturer on albinism. Her family was supportive—her sister Doreen, also albino, also joined as a lecturer, their father joined to sell tickets, and their mother previously worked in vaudeville and girl shows.[4]
She learned sword swallowing from Ricky Richiardi in Gibsonton, Florida, in 1969.[4]
In the mid-1970s she married and performed with Harold “Big Jim” Spohn, billed as “the fat man”.[5]
From 1975 to 1977 she held the Guinness World Records title for most swords swallowed simultaneously by a woman (five swords).[citation needed]
An illustration of Reed swallowing swords was used for the cover art of volume one of James Taylor’s carnival history magazine Shocked and Amazed! for which she was interviewed in 1995.[6]
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
Lua error in Module:Authority_control at line 153: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
