Daisy and Violet Hilton

Daisy and Violet Hilton (5 February 1908 – early January 1969) were English-born entertainers, who were conjoined twins.

The twins were born at 18 Riley Road, Brighton, England, on 5 February 1908.

Their mother was Kate Skinner, an unmarried barmaid.

The sisters were born joined by their hips and buttocks; they shared blood circulation and were fused at the pelvis but shared no major organs.

They were variously called or referred to as The Siamese Twins, The Hilton Sisters and The Brighton Twins or The Brighton Conjoined Twins and in the United States as the San Antonio Twins.

The sisters performed alongside Bob Hope and Charlie Chaplin.

The Hilton sisters toured first in Britain in 1911 (aged three) as "The United Twins".

Mary Hilton took them on to a tour through Germany, then to Australia, then in 1916 to the US.

In true sideshow manner, their performance was accompanied by an imaginative "history".

Their controllers kept all the money the sisters earned.

They were exhibited in Europe as children, and toured the United States sideshow, vaudeville and American burlesque circuits in the 1920s and 1930s.

In 1926, Bob Hope formed an act called the Dancemedians with the sisters, who had a tap-dancing routine.

When Mary died in Birmingham, Alabama, the girls were bequeathed to Mary's daughter Edith Meyers, and Edith's husband Meyer Meyers, a former balloon salesman.

The couple took over management of the twins.

Held mostly captive, the girls were beaten if they did not do as the Meyers wished.

They kept the twins from public view for a while and trained them in jazz music.

Violet was a skilled saxophonist and Daisy a violinist.

They lived in a mansion in San Antonio, Texas.

After years of being managed professionally by their legal guardians, in the early 1930s, on the advice of Harry Houdini, they were legally emancipated.

A medical account of the birth and a description of the twins was provided for the British Medical Journal by physician James Augustus Rooth, who helped deliver them.

He reported that subsequently the Sussex Medico-Chirurgical Society considered separation, but unanimously decided against it as it was believed that the operation would certainly lead to the death of one or both of the twins.

He noted these twins were the first to be born in the UK conjoined and to survive for more than a few weeks.

Their mother was unmarried.

Kate Skinner's employer, Mary Hilton, who helped in childbirth, apparently saw commercial prospects in them, and effectively bought them from their mother and took them under her care.

The girls first stayed above the Queen's Arms pub in Brighton where they were exhibited.

They later moved to the Evening Star pub.

According to the sisters' autobiography, Mary Hilton with her husband and daughter strictly controlled the twins by means of physical abuse; they had to call her "Auntie Lou" and her husband "Sir".

They trained the girls in singing and dancing.

In 1931, the sisters sued their managers and were legally emancipated, gaining freedom from their contract and awarded US$100,000 in damages (equivalent to $ in ).

They went into vaudeville as "The Hilton Sisters' Revue".

Daisy dyed her hair blonde and they began to wear different outfits so as to be distinguishable from Violet.

After vaudeville lost popularity, the sisters performed at burlesque venues.

Shortly after gaining independence from the Meyers, the Hiltons sailed to the UK on the Berengaria in December, 1932.

In 1932, the twins appeared in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film Freaks.

Afterwards, their popularity faded, and they struggled to make a living in show business.

They spent most of 1933 in the UK and returned to the US in October, 1933.

Violet began a relationship with musician Maurice Lambert, and they applied in 21 states for a marriage license, but it was always refused.

In 1936, Violet married actor James Moore as a publicity stunt.

The marriage lasted ten years on paper, but it was eventually annulled.

They were best known for their film appearances in Freaks and the biographic Chained for Life (1951).