Her mother was a circus fat lady weighing 600 pounds at the time of Ruth's birth. Following in her mothers footsteps she weighed fifty pound at her first birthday. By age ten she was 300 pounds. At the time she was worked under the name "Ima Waddler". In 1931 she joined Ringling Bros. She also married Joe Pontico. Her promoter claimed she weighed as much as 700 pounds. In 1934 typhoid fever set her back to 500. By the following year she regaied the weight she had lost. While working for Royal American Shows she pecked at 815 pounds. She died of cardiac failure after an operation to remove a tumor the size of a football.During the depression she earned $300.00 a day.
Her mother was a circus fat lady weighing 600 pounds at the time of Ruth's birth. Following in her mothers footsteps she weighed fifty pound at her first birthday. By age ten she was 300 pounds. At the time she was worked under the name "Ima Waddler". In 1931 she joined Ringling Bros. She also married Joe Pontico. Her promoter claimed she weighed as much as 700 pounds. In 1934 typhoid fever set her back to 500. By the following year she regaied the weight she had lost. While working for Royal American Shows she pecked at 815 pounds. She died of cardiac failure after an operation to remove a tumor the size of a football.During the depression she earned $300.00 a day.
Bio by: Rebecca M
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