Hometowns to Hollywood

“We had dresses sent up, and selected no two alike, and all the silly hats we wanted. We could dress and act our age, and no longer be made up as children, with bows in our hair. I had always wanted to drink a cocktail.” –Violet Hilton

“I wanted to smoke a cigarette. We did.” –Daisy Hilton

Daisy and Violet Skinner were born on February 5, 1908, in Brighton, Sussex, England, to Kate Skinner. Skinner was working as a barmaid and was unmarried at the time of the twins’ birth. The Hilton sisters were conjoined, fused at the pelvis and sharing the same circulatory system, albeit not sharing any organs. While their separation was considered, the idea was ultimately rejected because it would lead to the death of one or both of the twins. As their lives continued, they were the first conjoined twins born in the United Kingdom to survive for more than several weeks.

A woman named Mary Hilton employed Skinner and saw commercial value in the twins, essentially buying them off of their mother, who felt that their birth was a punishment and wanted nothing to do with them. They were exhibited at Queen’s Arms pub in Brighton and resided above the pub location, later moving to Evening Star pub. While Mary trained the girls in singing and dancing, it was under strict terms and accompanied by physical abuse.

By age three, the twins were touring Britain as “The United Twins,” followed by stints in Germany, Australia, and, in 1916, on to the United States. Mary kept all of their earnings and kept the twins from socializing and making friends. In other instances, she would charge visitors a penny to see the twins and sold postcards featuring the twins.

Their stage act continued to draw audiences and the Hiltons were featured players in numerous variety stage shows. Comedian Bob Hope was part of an act called “The Dancemedians” with George Byrne and the Hiltons, which involved a tap-dancing routine. Hope and Byrne would enter from opposite sides of the stage and the Hiltons would be waiting in the center, meeting each for a dance.

Once Mary died, the Hiltons were about fifteen years old and were willed to Mary’s daughter, Edith Meyers, and her husband. The couple’s treatment of the twins was the same, if not worse. They were kept from public view and continued to be subject to abuse while also being forcibly trained in jazz music to further distinguish themselves from other twin acts; Violet played the saxophone, and Daisy played the violin. By this point, they were living in San Antonio, Texas. They were among the highest-grossing vaudeville acts but saw almost none of these earnings. When they had moments in private, the twins dreamed of leaving Meyers’ control and taking charge of their wealth.

Things took a turn for the twins when they were falsely named in a divorce case. When the Meyers took them to court to meet the lawyers, they divulged their circumstances and begged for his help. He made them his clients and brought them to a nearby hotel.

On the advice of Harry Houdini, a close friend of the twins, the sisters sued their managers and were emancipated. They received freedom from their contract and were awarded $100,000 in damages. However, they continued their career in entertainment. Daisy dyed her hair blonde and wore different outfits to distinguish herself from Violet. Soon, they turned to vaudeville as “The Hilton Sisters’ Revue,” which was followed by performances in burlesque venues. They moved out of Meyers’ San Antonio residence and on to the St. Anthony Hotel during the trial, followed by a move to Burr Road in San Antonio with their Pekinese pup, “Boy.” They also bought an apartment in New York and enjoyed time being in the public eye on their own terms. Incidentally, Houdini also encouraged the girls to think about their individuality and effectively tune the other out to feel a sense of privacy as needed.

As the sisters grew, so did their careers and popularity. Violet was in a relationship with musician Maurice Lambert but could not marry him; after applying for a marriage license in 21 states, it was consistently refused as it was considered akin to bigamy to authorities at the time.

By 1932, the twins appeared in the MGM film Freaks (1932) but struggled to continue their careers in entertainment afterward.

In 1936, Violet married an actor named James Moore as a publicity stunt when they found a loophole in the Texas laws. The marriage ended in 1946. In the meantime, Daisy was visibly pregnant during the wedding and ultimately delivered a baby boy, who was given up for adoption. By 1941, Daisy married dancer Harold Estep, who went by the stage name of Buddy Sawyer. The marriage was short-lived, lasting ten days.

The twins published an autobiography called The Lives and Loves of the Hilton Sisters in 1942.

In 1952, the twins made their second film appearance in Chained for Life (1952). Beyond this film, they typically made personal appearances complementing the theatrical double features of their two films. They even opened a hot dog stand in Miami, Florida, in 1955 called “The Hilton Sisters Snack Bar,” but their goal of developing into a career failed when the number of customers decreased. The business closed within a year.

In 1961, they made the last of their public appearances at a Charlotte, North Carolina, drive-in theater. After the appearance, they found that their manager had abandoned them without funds, a method of transportation, or a place to stay. In response, they applied for a job at Park-N-Shop, a grocery store in town. Though they offered to work for one salary, the store owner, Charles Reid, hired them and paid them two full salaries, even designing a unique workstation to accommodate them and give them some discretion. One twin would ring up the groceries or weigh produce while the other bagged the items.

The twins rented a home through the show owner’s church, Purcell United Methodist, and generally lived privately, other than walking to work or church and buying Christmas presents for their friends.

In 1969, Violet caught the Hong Kong flu. Once she started to improve, however, Daisy caught the flu and did not recover. Daisy passed away and Violet passed two days later. They did not call for help. Their boss would phone them regularly until, one day, the phone simply kept ringing. When he arrived at their home and no one answered, he called for the police. Once they broke in, they found the twins on the floor, unresponsive.

They passed away in January of 1969 at age 60. Their death certificates list their dates of death as “before Jan. 4, 1969.”

A simple funeral was organized and the twins were buried at Forest Lawn West Cemetery in Charlotte, North Carolina, sharing a grave with a Vietnam veteran named Troy Thompson. Thompson’s mother was friends with the twins and donated the plot, as funds remained an issue.

There are different tributes and points of interest in relation to the Hiltons’ lives today.

There were two short-lived musicals based upon their lives, including 1989’s Twenty Fingers Twenty Toes and 1997’s Side Show. They also inspired the documentary Bound by Flesh (2012).

The Brighton & Hove 708 bus in their Brighton hometown was named in their honor.

The Brighton and Hove City Council has marked their birthplace with a commemorative plaque at 8 Riley Rd. in Brighton. To fund this plaque, a group in their hometown organized “One of Us” walking tours about the twins’ lives and careers.

Their home stands at 2204 Weyland Ave., Charlotte, North Carolina.

Their former place of employment is no longer a grocery store. As of 2024, it is a vacant site intended for retail or office space. It stands at 3512 Wilkinson Blvd., Charlotte, North Carolina.