Born to a barmaid, Violet and her conjoined twin sister Daisy Hilton were raised by the midwife who delivered them. This woman, Mary Hilton, saw her meal ticket in the curly-haired babies and trained them to perform. The girls were ill-treated and kept in a state of poverty until they arranged a private meeting with a lawyer at the age of 23. They then became their own managers and remained popular vaudeville performers until live shows were replaced by motion pictures. After performing in Freaks (1932) and Chained for Life (1952), Violet and Daisy fell into poverty and obscurity. They were found dead in their apartment when their employer, a grocer, reported that they hadn't shown up for work. They left no known survivors.