Alice Elizabeth Doherty

Alice Elizabeth Doherty was an American woman born with the condition hypertrichosis lanuginosa.

Biography

Doherty was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota with a condition known as hypertrichosis lanuginosa. Although this condition is very rare, other individuals were known for their similar appearances: Fedor Jeftichew, Stephan Bibrowski, Jesús "Chuy" Aceves, and Annie Jones. Hypertrichosis has many different variations, including differences in causation.
She was exhibited by her parents as a sideshow attraction from as early as the age of two. Later she was presented commercially by her mother and Professor Weller's One-Man Band throughout the Midwestern United States. She was consistently shown as a standalone exhibit in store front exhibitions. By the time she was five years old, her hair grew to about, eventually increasing to about by the time she was a teenager. Doherty was never interested in entertainment, but continued to perform to support her family, anxiously awaiting retirement.
She retired from the entertainment business in 1915 and died of bronchial pneumonia in Dallas, Texas, on June 13, 1933, aged 46.