Unbelievable story of conjoined twin who was forced to live with her sister's dead body attached to her
Daisy and Violet Hilton who were joined at the hip became well known as being entertainers
A set of twins who were joined at the hip became well known as being entertainers and enjoyed a successful career before facing a tragic end.
Daisy and Violet Hilton were born in 1908 in Brighton, England, before being sold to a woman named Mary Hilton.
Unbelievably, despite very low survival rates, the twins defied the odds and lived up until 1969.
The girls were sent out on tour from the age of three and following Mary’s death, they were inherited by her daughter Edith, as if they were property.
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From then, Daisy and Violet were taught how to dance and play musical instruments.
However, they were eventually able to find a way out of their ‘contract’ and gained autonomy over their own lives.
Following their freedom, the twins continued to make money as performers and even starred in films titled Freaks in 1932 and Chained For Life in 1952.
The pair were also married - separately - for a brief period, with Violet marrying actor James Moore in 1936.
This was seen as a publicity stunt and was annulled after a decade.
Then, in 1941, Daisy married dancer Harold Estep which only lasted 10 days.
Both of these marriages were met with shock and controversy from the public.
Their career started to wind down in 1961 after they were abandoned by their manager, with the twins making their last public appearance at a drive-in in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Having no money to their names, the sisters went on to work in a local shop.
However, tragedy struck in 1969 when Daisy and Violet both caught the flu.
Daisy died soon after contracting the illness and suffered greatly from symptoms, while Violet dying two to four days after her twin - meaning she was attached to the remains of her sister before she eventually succumbed to the same illness.
Nowadays, conjoined twins can undergo surgery to be separated if one of them falls terminally ill.
But as medicine and procedures were not as advanced in the 20th century, it’s thought that this wasn’t an option for the pair.
Following the English-born entertainers’ death, the duo have had musicals performed in their memory and have had a bus named after them.
A commemorative blue plaque has also been erected at the property where they were born in Brighton which reads: “The Hilton Twins. Violet and Daisy Skinner. 1908-1969. Stars of stage and screen. Born here.”