# Grady Stiles
**Grady Stiles Jr.** (1937–1992) was an American carnival sideshow performer known as "Lobster Boy," who had ectrodactyly, a hereditary condition in which the middle parts of the hands and/or feet are missing or underdeveloped, giving a cleft appearance, and who was later convicted of murdering his daughter's fiancé and was himself killed in a murder-for-hire plot arranged by his wife and her son.[1](https://guides.lib.fsu.edu/sideshows/books_NF) • [8](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/medgen/78566)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born / died | 1937–1992[1](https://guides.lib.fsu.edu/sideshows/books_NF) |
| Condition | Ectrodactyly, a hereditary condition involving missing or underdeveloped central parts of the hands and/or feet, which can create a cleft appearance[1](https://guides.lib.fsu.edu/sideshows/books_NF) • [8](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/medgen/78566) |
| Stage name | "Lobster Boy," performing with various sideshows; his family had carried the trait since the 1800s[1](https://guides.lib.fsu.edu/sideshows/books_NF) • [2](https://www.museumoftheweird.com/2014/12/29/the-real-sideshow-performers-that-inspired-american-horror-story-freak-show/) |
| Family life | Married Mary Teresa Herzog, another sideshow performer; moved to Gibsonton, Florida; three children together[1](https://guides.lib.fsu.edu/sideshows/books_NF) |
| 1978 conviction | Shot and killed his daughter's fiancé just before her 1978 wedding; convicted of murder[3](https://crimereads.com/for-decades-carnival-sideshows-were-a-real-nightmare-alley/) |
| 1992 death | His wife and her son by another man hired a neighbor to kill him[1](https://guides.lib.fsu.edu/sideshows/books_NF) |
| Cultural afterlife | Story fictionalized in "Carnivale," "American Horror Story: Freak Show," and the "Deadpool" comic; subject of Fred Rosen's true-crime book *Lobster Boy* (1995)[3](https://crimereads.com/for-decades-carnival-sideshows-were-a-real-nightmare-alley/) • [1](https://guides.lib.fsu.edu/sideshows/books_NF) |
## Ectrodactyly, the condition behind the act
Ectrodactyly, also called split hand/foot malformation or cleft hand, is a congenital condition in which one or more central fingers or toes are missing or malformed, often leaving a V-shaped cleft; when the remaining fingers are webbed, the hand can take on the "lobster claw" appearance that gave the sideshow act its name.[4](https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/ectrodactyly) It is rare, occurring in about 1 out of every 90,000 live births worldwide, and typical cleft hand has a genetic origin, often with a family history, and usually affects both hands and sometimes the feet.[4](https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/ectrodactyly) Most people with the condition have a high degree of hand functionality despite the visible difference, and many lead normal lives with little to no functional limitation.[4](https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/ectrodactyly)
In Stiles's case the condition ran in the family: his family had carried the trait since the 1800s, and his father had worked the sideshow circuit himself.[2](https://www.museumoftheweird.com/2014/12/29/the-real-sideshow-performers-that-inspired-american-horror-story-freak-show/)
## Sideshow career
Stiles performed with various sideshows under the name "Lobster Boy."[1](https://guides.lib.fsu.edu/sideshows/books_NF) Like his father before him, he traveled with the carnival, and the family spent most of their lives on the road billed as the lobster family.[5](https://podscripts.co/podcasts/morbid/episode-675-the-life-and-death-of-lobster-boy-grady-stiles-jr) Through the first half of the twentieth century, circuses such as Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey were popular across the country, particularly during the depression and war years, when a family could expect a day's entertainment for a small fee; for performers, pay might not have been great but it was consistent, and the carnival offered a stable and supportive environment.[5](https://podscripts.co/podcasts/morbid/episode-675-the-life-and-death-of-lobster-boy-grady-stiles-jr)
Performers whose deformities could be likened to an animal formed a recognized sideshow category, including "alligator" boys, "frog" people, and figures such as the Lobster Boy, typically promoted with banners depicting a half-man, half-lobster creature.[6](https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt2jcf40) • [7](https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid%3Aba167028-a762-4846-a016-dd26870f0b5c/files/rbk128b13z)
## The 1978 killing and its legal outcome
Stiles was known for being hot-tempered and abusive.[1](https://guides.lib.fsu.edu/sideshows/books_NF) He shot and killed his daughter's fiancé just before her 1978 wedding and was convicted of murder.[3](https://crimereads.com/for-decades-carnival-sideshows-were-a-real-nightmare-alley/) The FSU sideshow bibliography records that no sentence was served because of his disability.[1](https://guides.lib.fsu.edu/sideshows/books_NF)
## Death and aftermath
In 1992, Stiles's wife Mary Teresa Herzog and her son by another man hired a neighbor to have him killed.[1](https://guides.lib.fsu.edu/sideshows/books_NF)
The case became the subject of Fred Rosen's 1995 true-crime book *Lobster Boy*, and the story has since been fictionalized in books, movies, and television as varied as "Carnivale," "[American Horror Story: Freak Show](https://www.edgepedia.org/american-horror-story-freak-show)," and the "Deadpool" comic; the television series' lobster-boy character pays tribute to Stiles both in sharing the condition and in referencing the murder plot involving his own family.[1](https://guides.lib.fsu.edu/sideshows/books_NF) • [3](https://crimereads.com/for-decades-carnival-sideshows-were-a-real-nightmare-alley/) • [2](https://www.museumoftheweird.com/2014/12/29/the-real-sideshow-performers-that-inspired-american-horror-story-freak-show/)
## References
1. [Sideshows: Nonfiction, Florida State University Libraries research guide (entry for Fred Rosen, *Lobster Boy*, 1995)](https://guides.lib.fsu.edu/sideshows/books_NF)
2. [The Real Sideshow Performers that Inspired "American Horror Story: Freak Show", Museum of the Weird (2014)](https://www.museumoftheweird.com/2014/12/29/the-real-sideshow-performers-that-inspired-american-horror-story-freak-show/)
3. [For Decades, Carnival Sideshows Were a Real 'Nightmare Alley', Crime Reads](https://crimereads.com/for-decades-carnival-sideshows-were-a-real-nightmare-alley/)
4. [Ectrodactyly: Split Hand/Split Foot Deformation, Cleveland Clinic](https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/ectrodactyly)
5. [Morbid, Episode 675: The Life and Death of "Lobster Boy", Grady Stiles Jr., transcript](https://podscripts.co/podcasts/morbid/episode-675-the-life-and-death-of-lobster-boy-grady-stiles-jr)
6. [Joe Nickell, *Secrets of the Sideshows*, JSTOR](https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt2jcf40)
7. [Freak show conventions and 'The Lobster Man', University of Oxford research repository](https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid%3Aba167028-a762-4846-a016-dd26870f0b5c/files/rbk128b13z)
8. [Ectrodactyly (Concept Id: C0265554) - MedGen - NCBI](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/medgen/78566)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Theater and dance › Stage practitioners and craft › Practitioners overview*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license