Elmer McCurdy

Elmer J. McCurdy (January 1, 1880 – October 7, 1911) was an American outlaw who was killed in a shoot-out with police after robbing a train in Oklahoma in October 1911. Dubbed "The Bandit Who Wouldn't Give Up", his mummified body was first put on display at an Oklahoma funeral home and then became a fixture on the traveling carnival and sideshow circuit during the 1920s through the 1960s. After changing hands several times (it is not possible under U.S. law to own a human cadaver), McCurdy's remains eventually wound up at The Pike amusement zone in Long Beach, California, where they were discovered by crew members for the television series The Six Million Dollar Man and positively identified in December 1976.

In April 1977, McCurdy's body was buried at the Summit View Cemetery in Guthrie, Oklahoma.

McCurdy is the subject of the musical Dead Outlaw, which premiered off-Broadway in 2024 before transferring to Broadway in April, 2025.

Background

Elmer McCurdy was born in Washington, Maine, on January 1, 1880. He was the son of 17-year-old Sadie McCurdy, who was unmarried at the time of his birth. The identity of McCurdy's father is unknown; one possibility is Sadie's cousin, Charles Smith (McCurdy would later use the name "Charles Smith" as an alias). In order to save Sadie the social stigma of raising an illegitimate child, her brother George and his wife Helen adopted Elmer. After George died of tuberculosis in 1890, Sadie and Helen moved with Elmer to Bangor, Maine. Sadie eventually told McCurdy the truth about his parentage, which caused McCurdy to become "unruly and rebellious". As a teenager, he began drinking heavily, a habit that would continue throughout his life.