Fedor Adrianovich Jeftichew (Russian: Фёдор Адрианович Евтищев, Fyodor Yevtishchev, 1868 – January 31, 1904), better known as Jo-Jo the Dog-Faced Boy (later Jo-Jo the Dog-Faced Man), was a famous Russian sideshow performer who toured Europe with his father, the ‘Wild Man from the Kostroma Forest’, in 1873[1] and was brought to the United States of America in 1884 by P.T. Barnum.[2]
Born in Saint Petersburg, Imperial Russia in 1868, Fedor Jeftichew suffered from the medical condition hypertrichosis.[2] His father Adrian, also hypertrichotic,[2] had performed in Frenchcircuses. In 1873 Adrian appeared in European exhibitions as the "Wild Man from the Kostroma Forest", along with his son.[2] Ten years later Fedor returned as "Theodore Petroff", was recruited by a P. T. Barnum agent in 1884, and joined Barnum in America as "Jo-Jo The Dog-Faced Boy"[2]
Barnum created a story that involved a hunter in Kostroma who tracked Fedor and his father to their cave and captured them. Barnum described Adrian as a savage who could not be civilized. Barnum made a point of stressing Fedor's resemblance to a dog, and explained that when he was upset he would bark and growl. In the show, Fedor obliged by doing so.
In the 1940 movie Strike Up the Band (time 54:27), Mickey Rooney takes his date to the fair, and they see a carnival barker who is charging $1 to come into the tent and see "Jo-Jo the Dog-Faced Boy".
In the 1998 episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season 2, episode 6, Halloween, a character named Cordelia mentions being attacked by "Jo-jo the dog-faced boy".
