# The Mighty Cannonball Guy **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 19, 2006, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mighty-cannonball-guy/369307 "2006-08-19T02:17:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![burritobob678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df705f/32.png) [@burritobob678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burritobob678)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mighty-cannonball-guy/369307/1 "2006-08-19T02:17:31Z")
We’ve all seen the stock footage of the man who gets shot in the stomach with a cannonball (or one of the many parodies). What I would like to know is… Who is he? ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mighty-cannonball-guy/369307/2 "2006-08-19T02:22:58Z")
I know the footage you are thinking of, and I know that it was part of a montage that I used to see pretty frequently. I think it was in the opening credits of a television show. Just for everybody’s reference, in case it would help people remember the footage you are talking about… can anybody remember what that show was? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mighty-cannonball-guy/369307/3 "2006-08-19T02:38:30Z")
You mean [“Cannonball” Frank Richards](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlytmtStpdg)? ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mighty-cannonball-guy/369307/4 "2006-08-19T03:22:08Z")
I don’t think that cannon was fully loaded… ---
**Author:** ![burritobob678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df705f/32.png) [@burritobob678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burritobob678)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2006, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mighty-cannonball-guy/369307/5 "2006-08-30T06:31:30Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] You mean [“Cannonball” Frank Richards](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlytmtStpdg)? [/QUOTE] thank you so much!!! i’ve losing sleep over you he was for two weeks. you are my hero ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2006, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mighty-cannonball-guy/369307/6 "2006-08-30T13:22:31Z")
FYI, I believe the cannon was spring-loaded rather than with explosives. The cannon ball weighed 102 pounds (_The Super Athletes_, by David Willoughby). As Willoughby describes it, Richards began by letting people punch him in the abdomen (including Jack Dempsey, the heavyweight champion). This progressed to using a two-by-four to ram him in the gut. Then a sledge hammer. Finally, the cannon. Richards did it twice a day in vaudeville, but more than that gave him headaches. (Video of the cannon shot shows Richards being knocked backward several feet into a canvas screen.) Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2006, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mighty-cannonball-guy/369307/7 "2006-08-30T17:53:18Z")
I did a little poking around, but couldn’t find any information about when he died, or whether he suffered injuries from these stunts. Perhaps the lack of info suggests he wasn’t quite as invulnerable as he seemed. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2006, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mighty-cannonball-guy/369307/8 "2006-08-30T18:27:18Z")
[QUOTE=anson2995] I did a little poking around, but couldn’t find any information about when he died, or whether he suffered injuries from these stunts. [/QUOTE] Homer Simpson had a little thing catching cannon balls and the vet told him something like: > [@](#): > > And when laying in a hammock please rest your beer on your head or genitals. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mighty-cannonball-guy/369307/9 "2011-05-28T16:14:36Z")
> [@anson2995](#): > > I did a little poking around, but couldn’t find any information about when he died, or whether he suffered injuries from these stunts. He died in 1969 in California, in his 80s.