The History of the 'Hilton Sisters'

"We don't mind having people stare at us. We're used to it. We've never known anything else." - Daisy Hilton

Daisy and Violet Hilton were born in Brighton, East Sussex, England on February 5, 1908 to a young, unwed barmaid, Kate Skinner. They were "adopted" by their mother's boss and midwife, Mary Hilton. The sisters were pygopagus twins - conjoined at the hips and buttocks. They shared blood circulation and were fused at the pelvis but shared no major organs.

Soon after acquiring the twins, Mary Hilton was exhibiting them all over the United States and Europe. When Mary died, her husband and daughter took over the sisters' act. It was not until 1931, when the sisters filed a lawsuit against their management, that they were awarded independence. They left the sideshow circuit, which they hated, and joined Vaudeville, with a show called The Hilton Sisters' Revue.

In 1932 the twins appeared as themselves in the movie Freaks, which dared to pose the question of whether or not conjoined twins can have a love life. In the case of the Hilton sisters, the answer was yes - they were notorious for their many affairs and allegedly had a strong desire to outdo one another in the area of dating. Because the sisters shared sensations, as suggested by the film, they developed an ability to "separate" themselves from one another mentally. Daisy also dyed her hair blonde because she disliked being called by her sister's name. Each of the sisters was married separately, although they bore no children and each marriage lasted only a short time.

After the public lost interest in Siamese twins, the sisters settled in Miami and ran a hamburger stand called the Hilton Sisters' Snack Bar. When the business failed, they turned to Hollywood. In 1950 the sisters appeared in the film Chained for Life, which, despite its poor production values, does a grand job of showcasing the Hilton sisters' voices. When Freaks was re-released to a cult audience in the 1960s, the sisters went on a national publicity tour.

Their last public appearance was in North Carolina at a drive-in movie theatre. The man who had set up the tour date had promised to pick them up following the appearance, but failed to show up. Penniless and stranded, they were forced to take a job at a grocery store, with one working the register and the other bagging groceries. On January 6, 1969, the twins failed to report for work and were later found dead in their home, from the Hong Kong flu.