Background
He was born in New York City on December 26, 1952, and grew up in first in Glendale, then Costa Mesa,California, with his mother, Kathy. Father, Robert; brothers John and Tim. And sister, Patricia.
He was born in New York City on December 26, 1952, and grew up in first in Glendale, then Costa Mesa,California, with his mother, Kathy. Father, Robert; brothers John and Tim. And sister, Patricia.
He studied literature at California State University, Long Beach and the University of California, Irvine.
Another sister died in infancy from cystic fibrosis). Flanagan survived into his 40s despite the cystic fibrosis—an unusually long life at a time when the life expectancy of those diagnosed with CF was 17 years and because doctors did not expect Bob to live past the age of 7 or 8. He moved to Los Angeles in 1976.
In 1978, he published his first book, The Kid Is the Manitoba
He also worked with the improv comedy group The Groundlings. Death On January 4, 1996, he died of cystic fibrosis, aged 43.
He was the subject of the documentary SICK: The Life & Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist (1997), a film by Kirby Dick, which covers the final years of Bob"s life and does not shy away from detailing his masochistic activities. While some of his performances were notable for acts of extreme masochism (on at least one occasion he hammered a nail through his penis, while cracking jokes), he also wrote humorous songs, many of them intended as much for children as adults.
His latest posthumous piece by Sheree Rose entitled Bobaloon, was shown in Japan, featuring a 20-foot tall inflatable Flanagan complete with pierced penis, ball gag and straitjacket.
= Selected performances.
(1978 poetry chapbook (40 pages) by the legendary "super-m...)