Birdman of Alcatraz

Robert Franklin Stroud (January 28, 1890 – November 21, 1963), known as the Birdman of Alcatraz, was a prisoner in Alcatraz who supposedly found solace from solitary confinement in raising and selling birds.

Stroud was born in Seattle, Washington, on January 28, 1890, to Elizabeth and Ben Stroud. He was the couple's first child, although Elizabeth had two daughters from a previous marriage. Stroud left home at a young age, and by 1908 was in Cordova, Alaska, where he met and began a relationship with 36-year old Kitty O'Brien, a dance-hall entertainer and prostitute. In November 1908 they moved to Juneau, Alaska.

On January 18, 1909, while Robert was away at work, an acquaintance of theirs, F. K. "Charlie" Von Dahmer, took advantage of and viciously beat Kitty. On his return, Robert confronted Charlie and a struggle ensued resulting in Charlie being shot dead. Although Stroud's mother Elizabeth retained a lawyer for her son, he was sentenced to 12 years in the federal penitentiary on Puget Sound's McNeil Island on August 23, 1909.

On September 5, 1912, Stroud was transferred from McNeil Island to the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas. While there, he killed a guard and was sentenced to execution by hanging on May 27, 1916, but the trial was later invalidated. In a later trial he was given a life sentence. This trial was invalidated by the U.S. Supreme Court and a new trial was ordered and set for May 1918. On June 28, 1918 he was again sentenced to die by hanging. The Supreme Court intervened, but only to uphold the death sentence, which was scheduled to be carried out April 23, 1920.

At this point Stroud's mother appealed to President Wilson, who ordered a halt to the execution. His sentence was altered to life imprisonment. While at Leavenworth, he raised nearly 300 canaries in his cells and wrote two books, Diseases of Canaries and Stroud's Digest on the Diseases of Birds.

Stroud was transferred to Alcatraz on December 19, 1942, from there to the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri in 1959, and died in Springfield on November 21, 1963.

The book and film

Stroud became the subject of a 1955 book, Birdman of Alcatraz, by Thomas E. Gaddis.

The book was dramatized in a 1962 film of the same title. It starred Burt Lancaster, Karl Malden, Thelma Ritter, Neville Brand, Betty Field, Telly Savalas, Edmond O'Brien, Hugh Marlowe and Whit Bissell.

The movie was adapted by Guy Trosper from Gaddis' book. It was directed by John Frankenheimer.

It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Burt Lancaster), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Telly Savalas), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Thelma Ritter) and Best Cinematography, Black-and-White. Stroud was never allowed to see the film.

Was the story a true story?

According to those who knew Stroud while he was in prison, the characterization of Stroud as mild-mannered as presented in Gaddis's book and the subsequent film were largely fiction. The real Stroud had been described as a vicious, unrepentant killer who, according to all accounts, was disliked by most of his fellow inmates. He was kept in solitary not out of vindictiveness but because he was considered extremely dangerous.

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