Alvin 'Shipwreck' Kelly Biography

Daredevil

Alvin "Shipwreck" Kelly was the acknowledged master of flagpole-sitting, a nutty public fad of the 1920s. Kelly would clamber to the top of a specially-prepared flagpole and remain there on a small platform for days or even weeks, usually as a paid publicity stunt. Kelly set a world record by perching atop a flagpole for seven weeks at Atlantic City's Steel Pier in the summer of 1930.

Extra credit: Kelly is not the same man as "Shipwreck" Kelly, the record-setting Kentucky football running back of the 1930s... Various dates of birth have been given for Kelly over the years. However, according to a 1952 New York Times story about his death, Kelly had "written in newspaper articles and in a pamphlet that he was born on May 13, 1893"... Magician David Blaine performed a stunt reminiscent of Kelly in 2002, standing on a 90-foot pillar in New York's Bryant Park for 35 hours.

Kelly appears with Evel Knievel and Ham the Chimp in our loop More Audacity Than Cranial Capacity.