Nostalgia: Bill Strother The Human Spider

Nostalgia: Bill Strother The Human Spider
Image provided courtesy of The Historic New Orleans Collection, Gift of Waldemar S. Nelson. 2003.0182.195

Strother climbed the Hibernia Bank Building at 226 Carondelet St., drawing a crowd of an estimated 20,000 people, including those hanging out the windows of the building. He added some fake slips and falls on his way up and ended his performance by climbing up the bank’s flagpole and sitting down on the bronze top to read a newspaper.

To raise money after WWI, the government sold Victory Liberty Loan bonds. To promote their sale, events were held in cities across the U.S. In New Orleans, Parham Werlein, chairman of the stunts committee, invited Bill Strother, the Human Spider, to exhibit his unique skill set – scaling large buildings using only his own fingers and toes.

Strother was touring many cities that year, but his first climb in New Orleans was held on the day the Liberty Loans were officially released, April 21, 1919. A short parade of the War Finance Brigade was followed by Strother’s first climb of the Interstate Bank Building (600 block of Canal St.) at noon.

A second parade that evening featured whippet tanks and was followed by an 8:30 p.m climb of the same building by the Human Spider. Strother added some flair at the end of his climb by balancing on a chair on the roof edge and riding a bicycle around the cornices. As the crowds gathered and stared agape, committee members circulated among them to gather financial pledges to the Liberty Loan program.

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The next day at noon he climbed the Hibernia Bank building while blindfolded. He had one last climb on Wednesday of the Macheca building (later Godchaux’s) at 828 Canal St.

Strother stayed at The Monteleone Hotel on his visit, and to wrestle up some interest in his climb, he pretended to fall out of the window of his 3rd floor room. Turning in mid-air, he caught the cornice of the floor below, blew a kiss, then climbed back to his room. Then he went to find raw oysters, which were his preferred meal before a big climb.

Other performers called themselves the Human Spider before and after Bill Strother, but he is one of the most remembered thanks to his role in the 1923 film “Safety Last” which featured Strother climbing the International Bank Building in Los Angeles.

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After a career-ending fall in 1930, Strother found later success as Santa Claus at a department store in Virginia, becoming one of the most famous and best-paid Santas in the country. He died in 1960.

 

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