Walter Cornelius

Walter Cornelius^[a] (born Voldemārs Korņejevs;^{[citation needed]} 11 April 1924 – 23 September 1983) was a Latvian strongman, stuntman and philanthropist who escaped the Iron Curtain and settled in Peterborough, England, where he gained notoriety by taking part in a range of bizarre stunts.^[2][3]

Cornelius left Soviet-occupied Latvia and made it to the West by swimming^{[dubious – discuss]} the Baltic Sea. During the swim he was fired at by guards, but despite being shot in the stomach, he made a successful escape. Settling in Peterborough, where he remained for the rest of his life, he worked as a lifeguard at the city's Lido.^[4] He received naturalisation in 1971.^[5]

Cornelius gained notoriety by exhibiting feats of great strength and stamina, as well as carrying out bizarre novelty stunts such as pushing a pea through the city with his nose, letting people use a sledgehammer to break a slab of concrete that he had on his head, and walking miles on his hands.^[6] Perhaps his most famous stunt, as the "Daredevil Birdman", was his annual (unrealistic) attempt to fly across the River Nene by wearing a bird-suit and flapping huge wings attached to his arms. Although doomed to failure, each "flight attempt" gained publicity and drew large crowds.^[4] In July 1967, he appeared on BBC's Blue Peter when John Noakes used a sledge hammer to break a concrete slab on Cornelius's head.^[7]

A philanthropist in later life, while working at the Lido he would urge the more proficient swimmers to take up bodybuilding. In 2016, Peterborough Lido erected a silhouette of Cornelius as a weathercock on the swimming pool's weather vane.^[3]