John Eckhardt Jr, (August 27, 1911 – January 5, 1991), professionally billed as Johnny Eck, was an American freak show performer in sideshows and a film actor.

Besides being a sideshow performer and actor, the multi-talented Eck was also a folk artist (specifically a screen painter), musician, photographer, illusionist, penny arcade owner, Punch and Judy operator, and expert model-maker.

Though Eck would sometimes describe himself as "snapped off at the waist", he had unusable, underdeveloped legs and feet that he would hide under custom-made clothing.

[3] The twins had an older sister named Caroline who educated Eck at home until he and his brother enrolled in public school at age seven.

"I would climb atop of a small box and preach against drinking beer and damning sin and the devil," Eck recalled in an autobiographical fragment.

[citation needed] In late 1923, Eck and his brother attended a performance of stage magic at a local church by John McAslan.

"[8] Although he sometimes tried to socialize, he didn't feel comfortable mingling with his castmates, whom he described as a "happy, noisy crowd" and "childish, silly and in a world all their own.

"[7] When Pete Robinson had difficulty lying on a blanket in one scene, Eck commented that if he had legs, he would have lain on a fakir's bed of nails.

Olga Baclanova would reminisce fondly of her costar (whom she described as "handsome"), "When we finished the picture, he came and gave me a present.

"[8] Eck claimed that Browning wished to do a follow-up picture with him and Robert where he would play a mad scientist's creation.

When the Eckhardt home was facing foreclosure due to the oncoming Great Depression, Eck performed for the Ripley's Believe It or Not!

[13] The illusion would end with stage hands plucking up Eck and setting him atop "his" legs and then twirling him off-stage to be replaced by his twin, Robert, who would then loudly threaten to sue Raboid and storm out of the theater.

Eck continued his love of drawing and painting, early on choosing such subjects as pretty girls, ships and himself.

[14] When sideshows lost popular appeal, the Eckhardt brothers returned to their red brick rowhouse at 622 North Milton Avenue, in the East-side, working-class section of Baltimore.

In the 1950s, the brothers bought and ran a used children's train ride in a local park; Eck acting as conductor.

Eck also became a screen painter, having learned the craft from William Oktavec, a grocer and local folk artist who invented the art form in 1913.

Despite having a notable career that ran back to the 1920s, Eck had very little to show materially for his successes – which he attributed to being taken advantage of over the years by unscrupulous managers, "sharp crooks", and even "best friends.

"[18] Describing the situation of fans dropping by his rowhouse on Milton, Eck wrote to a close friend in 1985, "I am so embarrassed – I would love to be financially able to entertain these wonderful people in a refined way – a tiny sandwich, cold Cola or something..."[18] In January 1987, the then 76-year-old Eckhardt brothers were robbed in an ordeal that lasted several hours.

Since the 1990s, Leonardo DiCaprio has pursued making a Hollywood feature film on the life of Johnny Eck, to be written by Caroline Thompson, the scriptwriter of Edward Scissorhands, and produced by Pelagius Films and by Joseph Fries, with DiCaprio and Joseph Rappa as executive producers.