Mignon the Penguin Lady

Ruth Berry (born circa 1910)  was born with the condition called phocomelia which resulted in stunted limbs with fused digits, resembling flippers. Short and stout with a waddling gait she began to exhibit herself in the early 1930s  as Mignon the Penguin Girl (“mignon” is French for “cute”). To give the act a little pizzazz she played the marimba. In addition to sideshows, she worked the world’s fairs that were held in New York and Chicago during the 30s. She married twice; once to a man named Largo, and then to Hoppy the Frog Boy (Earl Davis) with whom she performed for the last decade of her career. She left the sideshow life around 1965.

For more on performing little people please check out Rose’s Royal Midgets and Other Little People in Vaudeville.