William âÂÂBillâ Durks (Jasper, Alabama, April 13, 1913 - Gibsonton, Florida, May 7, 1975) was an American sideshow performer born with diprosopus (âÂÂtwo facesâÂÂ), billed as âÂÂThe Man With Three Eyesâ or sometimes âÂÂThe Two-Faced ManâÂÂ.
William Durks was born in Jasper, Alabama in 1913 to a family of farmers. He was born with a cleft palate, cleft lip, two noses with one functional nostril each, and, contrary to what his stage name implied: two eyes, which had to be opened surgicallyâÂÂone of which was blind. His condition has been described as both diprosopus and frontonasal dysplasia.
At the age of fourteen, Durks started working at a Single-O show as "The Man with Two Noses and Three Eyes". Over the course of his career, he was signed to multiple traveling shows, including RipleyâÂÂs Believe It or Not! and the Slim Kelly and Whitney Sutton sideshow on James E. Strates Shows.
Durksâ central "third eye" was painted on for shows.
His wife, Mildred Durks, was also a performer billed as "The Alligator Woman" due to her lamellar ichthyosis. They married and performed together as "The World's Strangest Married Couple" until MildredâÂÂs death in 1968. This title was used by multiple other married sideshow couples for promotional purposes. Other "World's Strangest Married Couples" include Al and Jeanie Tomaini, and Percilla and Emmitt Bejano.
In 2024, 49 years after his death, Durks was inducted into the Coney Island Sideshow Hall of Fame.