When he found the leg, he thought he'd stumbled upon his big break. Filmmakers Bryan Carberry and Clay Tweel tell NPR's Arun Rath they wanted to dig deep and get the story behind the spectacle. 2023 Rolling Stone, LLC. Many thanks for the follow! This article was published more than7 years ago. This is insane! we were like, Oh, yeah, I guess it kind of is.. No, Mr. Wood said. Aftermath Whisnant continued to promote himself as "The Foot Man" for the next ten years, selling merchandise, appearing on podcasts, and attempting to sell a book of essays. Theyre not afraid to make fun of themselves sometimes, or make fun of each other. The foot was once a symbol of his father, but gradually, it transforms into a symbol of how much Johns own life has spun out of control. You can listen to Whisnant talking on the Film School Rejects In The Mouth Of Dorkness Podcast here. Did the leg rightfully belong to its original owner, or to the man who had inadvertently paid good money for it? Were they both eager to participate in the documentary? Still, the odd scenario which Finders Keepers showcase, may not find a larger audience that this documentary deserves. He assumed they would give him the bone; however, he was surprised to receive the entire thingwith skin and muscle still intact. Anyone can read what you share. And why in the world would anybody have their own amputated limb preserved for posterity? We tried to represent that. The buyer, Shannon Whisnant, told Mathis that he wanted the leg for a tourist attraction. Tweel: Shannon is a kind of self-made man, an entrepreneur of sorts. Theres an appreciation, but theres not a lot of love there. Mr. Whisnant and Mr. Woods interaction made international headlines in 2007, and the two men aired their custody battle on an episode of Judge Mathis that was wild even for reality TV. Their fortunes still seem to cross, somehow. Its a never-ending story, said Bryan Carberry, a director of the film, but you have to stop shooting at some point.. Its a moral judgment versus the letter of the law. John is doing really well. How two filmmakers stumbled across a tabloid story over the battle for an amputated limb, John Wood (left) and Shannon A. Whisnant in 'Finders Keepers. Inside the unit was a smoker. Hed asked the hospital to let him have the leg after amputation with a view to including it in a memorial to his late father. Shirley Whisnantlives in Stacy, NC; previous city include Hickory NC. View Shannon Whisnant results including current phone number, address, relatives, background check report, and property record with Whitepages. He wanted to preserve the leg as a memorial to his dad. The cameras began rolling after a producer, Ed Cunningham (the Oscar winner Undefeated), overheard Mr. Woods high school football coach unspooling the tale in a steakhouse. Cynically, do you think hes amplifying that story to draw this out more?BC: That wouldnt surprise me. No. And Shannon said something on Twitter after he saw the movie, about how hes just happy he can help people. The bigger challenge was actually their family members: Johns sister, Marian, with her watching at a safe distance, having some perspective on it, and, in the movie, just being tired of having the tragedy brought up. TV Shows. Done grossed me out.. He suffered a freak accident when the engine went out while he and his father weretaking a joyridein their small plane. Yet the hicks-at-loggerheads story that was propagated by a snickering news media (and that is grasped, sometimes uneasily, by the directors, Bryan Carberry and Clay Tweel) veils a deeper, more resonant tale of fathers and sons and wounded feelings. Arrangements: Munden F.H., Morehead City. What they found, with the spotlight gone, was a rich tragicomedy about two men who were clinging to the leg for different reasons one as a memento mori, the other as a ticket to homespun celebrity. A part of me just died. John lost his leg in the same plane crash where he lost his father's life. Hes married to his wife, Leslie, now. Shannon Whisnant. The story told by the new documentary Finders Keepers is almost too weird to be true. John Wood had to have his leg amputated after a plane crash in 2004, during which his father died. John was in such a bad spot and its a piece of his own body. They dont shy away. Shannon served on the board of directors of the American Irish Foundation. Well, it wasnt his leg, exactly, as he learned when his report made the local news and an amputee, John Wood, came forward to claim his former limb. Tweel: Shannon is a kind of self-made man, an entrepreneur of sorts. Mr. Wood is no wallflower, either: By his account, hes been shot and run over by a dump truck. At the time of the crash, Wood seemed to be turning a corner in his long struggle with drug addiction. Archival footage of Mr. Whisnant and Mr. Woods many TV appearances (they came in at No. If you didnt have your birthday party at John Woods house, then you were nobody, Whisnant recalls. John Wood, center. Whisnant bought Woods barbecue smoker, took it home, opened it up, and discovered inside the mummified limb. The documentary by Brian Carberry and J. Clay Tweel leaves no stone unturned, thanks largely to Wood and Whisnant, who are only too happy to revisit the details of the bizarre and twisting saga, which involves small claims court, the television shows "Judge Mathis" and "Dukes of Haggle" and Whisnant's ongoing attempt to monetize his reputation as the "Foot Man," as he has come to be known (and as the T-shirts he once sold proclaim). Shannon was born and raised in St . Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. An uplifting ending helps bring closure where it is much needed. And where do their lives really go after the media attention perhaps really dies down? After confirmation by the Senate, he presented his credentials to Irish leaders on July 20, 1977, and had the official title of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary. With no way to store theleg, Wood first refrigerated it at a local Hardee's before saving it through his own mummification techniques. [3] Shannon died in Boston in 1988 of lymphoma, at age 61. 3. 2023 Cond Nast. As you might imagine, what followed was a bizarre battle, a media frenzy and, now, a new documentary called Finders Keepers. I wont spoil the final verdict, but as a happy side effect, Mathis took note of Woods strung-out appearance and helped him get into a well-regarded rehab program on the West Coast. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Years ago, in the small town of Maiden, N.C., a man named Shannon Whisnant bought a storage locker, and in it he found a grill. He soaked it in the embalming fluid, put it in a possum trap and put the trap in the tree in his front yard to sun dry and after six months it was mummified. 82 minutes. I imagine that their wisdom if thats even the right word for it comes from hindsight. But Carberry and Tweel take a thoughtful, character-study approach. Wood came from money he was the son of a furniture mogul and according to Whisnant had a roller rink in his basement (just one of many bizarre details which are never mentioned again). Their long-suffering families provide perspective, and Mr. Whisnant emerges as a vivid Southern character, who boasts that he can cry on cue and tell jokes with the aplomb of early Eddie Murphy. We stuck around for seven years, Carberry says, and found a story about what happened after the 15 minutes of fame were over.. This would be the last time that Mr. Whisnant ever considered parting with his leg. Meanwhile, Wood speaks with a bewildered directness, as if he cant believe all the ways in which hes screwed up his life. His discovery turned him into a local celebrity; Whisnant had t-shirts . Turns out, hed just misplaced it. 2023 Vox Media, LLC. The latest fashion news, beauty coverage, celebrity style, fashion week updates, culture reviews, and videos on Vogue.com. And John was the co-pilot that day, kind of took home some guilt from that, even if it wasn't his fault. Finders Keepers could have easily veered into Hicksploitation 101, scoring laughs off the quirks and delusions of a couple of rednecks fighting over a foot. In their hands, this is much more than a stranger-than-fiction yarn about a severed leg. I'm sure y'all figured that out by now. He attempted to home-embalm and mummify the leg, then left it in the smoker. So that is this bizarre evolution of the cosmic connection between these two guys, that possibly the Foot Man, as he calls himself, might have to have his leg amputated. Hed been relapsing most of his adult life. His life quickly spiraled out of control; by the summer of 2005, he was forced to move all his possessions into a storage facility, and soon thereafter, he stopped paying rent on the unit. You\'ll receive the next newsletter in your inbox. Meanwhile Woods addiction destroys his life utterly, leaving him estranged from his family and completely destitute. SHANNON WHISNANT OBITUARY. He liked it, as I thought he would, but he had two complaints: He thought the movie could have been a little longer and that it could have used a little bit more of him in it. The Den of Geek quarterly magazine is packed with exclusive features, interviews, previews and deep dives into geek culture. We all wanted to make sure that we were able to show the complexities of these guys, be responsible about not playing into the stereotypes. John Wood (left) and Shannon A. Whisnant in 'Finders Keepers.'. Kiss Paul Stanley Has 'Thoughts' About Parents Who Support Kids Gender Identities What Happened To 'Finders Keepers John Wood After He Won The Custody Battle For His Amputated Leg. If the rest of the year keeps up at this pace, podcasting will be in a good creative place. Its important to Wood that he gives back to his community, and that his reputation extends beyond this strange scenario. I disliked it from the first time I seen it, he said. Weve seen this much deeper idea, this synchronicity, these bigger themes, Carberry says when I speak to both directors by phone. As we spent a lot of time around these characters, we were able to go back between comedy and tragedy., As for the fate of the leg itself, Tweel confesses to a little uncertainty over who should be its rightful owner. On Shannon Whisnant, the man who found the leg. Just saw Finders Keepers along with 150+ people in Winchester, VA as part of #lostweekend, the independent film fest presented by . But this shockingly funny, weirdly touching custody battle between John Wood, the aggrieved amputee, and Shannon Whisnant, the fast-talking entrepreneur who unwittingly bought the appendage in a storage-unit auction, is as authentic as the North Carolina vernacular in which it unfolds. Clay Tweel: Its almost this cosmic yin-and-yang force that draws these two guys together. But morally speaking, its Woods. Its a glimpse at the strange goings on in a Southern state that would sound unbelievable were it not true. The two men grew up in the same town, on opposite sides of the class divide. embalming of his leg to the amateur forensic veterinarian who eventually preserved it. 5-Down, Eight Letters: Show that gave us New New York. When he took both of them home and opened the grill, he discovered something he hadn't been expecting: a mummified human leg. He was coauthor of The Truman Merry-Go-Round (1950) and published many articles.[4]. If a fictional movie were to be made of Shannon Whisnants life, I imagine that hed be played by O Brother, Where Art Thou?era John Goodman. I think its nice for them to have it finished, to be able to watch something thats complete, kind of like a good final chapter to that debacle. They didnt deride it as being about two rednecks fighting over a leg. Read on for more thoughts from Carberry and Tweel about John Wood, Shannon Whisnant, and the path to Finders Keepers. I guess Im a nobody. The foot might be a branding opportunity for him, but its also, we realize, a cosmic righting of the scales. Whisnant, however, wanted to keep it. CT: The fact that Katy was handling it with no gloves was a little crazy to me. Its really been amazing to see their family come back together. Though Woodhas hadhis ups and downs, the events have helpedhim regain perspective. He called 911 and the police came to confiscate the leg. It was . He called 911 and the police came to confiscate the leg. Barnum route instead, charging local curiosity-seekers for lookie-loos ($3 for adults, $1 for children), selling Foot Man t-shirts, and stoking the national media attention for all it was worth. Despite heavy Southern accents (and, on Whisnants part, the occasional malapropism) that make the two protagonists and their friends and family sound a bit like the bumpkins you might assume them to be, Wood and Whisnant come across as surprisingly thoughtful and introspective interview subjects. Lists about some of the most shocking and upsetting documentary films & series that you should totally watch anyway. Eventually, they decided to appear on the show Judge Mathis, to once and for all decide the legs fate. Which 'Tiger King' Character Would You Want To Be In Quarantine With? This simultaneously sordid and silly yarn begins as the portrait of a sad and broken man who lost a body part, but it ends up being a story about finding oneself. So much so that the 2015 documentary, directed by Bryan Carberry and Clay Tweel, actually feels like a companion piece. A few festivalgoers have wondered if the film is exploitative, feeding Mr. Whisnants hunger for fame while paralleling it with addiction, a criticism that the documentarian Joe Berlinger dismissed. But this shockingly funny, weirdly touching custody battle between John Wood, the aggrieved amputee, and Shannon Whisnant, the fast-talking entrepreneur who unwittingly bought the appendage in a . He admitted Thinking Out Loud was actually inspired by Van Morrison, not Marvin Gaye. On the surface, Finders Keepers is an odd and funny look into the lives of two interesting characters from North Carolina who fight over the ownership of a severed foot /leg. These guys are over-the-top characters and their story is absurd. So that was nice. And so does Wood. Industry professionals are tweeting their support of guild members. I've heard from many a folk, kin to me, and close to me, and the ones that know me. Mike Shannon, the St. Louis native who became the voice of his hometown team for 50 years, has died. The film insinuates that Woods drug problems may have roots in his feeling unaccepted by his ultra-successful father; Whisnants obsession with the spotlight may be the result of his own fathers abuse and neglect. Greg Warren dared to go where no comedian has gone before. Mr. Wood was the son of a wealthy furniture executive; Mr. Whisnant had a more hardscrabble life. Menu. A story about fame, addiction and a custody battle over a man's leg. I just didnt want to pick it up. Mr. Whisnant had no such qualms, turning it and himself into a tourist attraction (They want to see it, and watch the cholesterol drip out of it) and denying Mr. Woods pleas to return his property, which had been severed in a plane crash. The movie leaves things on a tenuous note in both of their personal lives . Finders Keepers begins in Maidan, North Carolina where local wheeler-dealer Shannon Whisnant buys a storage unit at auction containing a smoker. When he got evicted, it went into his grill in his storage unit. Loved Netflixs Tiger King doc? He and Lisa are still together but certainly having some rough patches. . His addictions have never gone away, and hes become estranged from his family. Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, "William V. Shannon, 61, Envoy Under Carter and a Times Writer", "William V. Shannon Dies at 61; Author and Former Ambassador", "United States Ambassador to Ireland - Nomination of William V. Shannon", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_V._Shannon&oldid=1131812187, 20th-century American non-fiction writers, Ambassadors of the United States to Ireland, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 5 January 2023, at 21:53. We have a few questions. The Weirdest Documentaries to Watch After Tiger King, Tiger King Earned 34 Million Viewers in First 10 Days, Netflixs Tiger King True Story: What the Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin Documentary Didnt Tell You. Trending 1 Shannon Whisnant Retweeted Louis Will Tiger King 2 Figure Out What Happened to Carole Baskins Husband? But if youre someone who just needs more like Tiger King, Finders Keepers, which is available for free with Amazon Prime, is your next stop. The documentary unfolds in wild ways which we wouldnt want to spoil, though it almost plays like a softer, sadder but no less bizarre sister piece to Tiger King, with two lives linked for better or worse. When Wood heard what was happening, he asked for his leg back, but Whisnant was unrelenting in his insistence that the leg belonged to him. Theyve both now seen the film. Rolling Stone is a part of Penske Media Corporation. The biggest challenge, the filmmakers said, was finding the right tone. Directors Tweel and Carberry keep them talking, and the film expands as it goes along. Wood, who has struggled with drug addiction, alcoholism and homelessness, is the films heart. Would you believe me if I told you the story gets even crazier as it goes along? He managed to interview both Wood and Whisnant on camera. It was tied so much into this tragedy, and getting past Johns fathers passing. Sundance audiences loved it. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Although entertaining, this documentary is much more than just an out of the ordinary situation. From the very early stages we had that in mindto not feel like we were exploiting them. With the help of his friends, family, and Warner Bros.,he's managed to get himself on the straight and narrow. Sadly in November 2016, almost two years after the documentary premiered at the January 2015 Sundance film festival Shannon Whisnant passed away after a heart attack. Rosie Fletcher is the UK Editor of Den Of Geek. William Vincent Shannon (August 24, 1927 September 27, 1988) was an American journalist, author, and United States Ambassador to Ireland from 1977 to 1981 under President Jimmy Carter. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - April 27, 2023 marked 12 years since the devastating tornado outbreak in Alabama. Whisnant rebranded himself as the Foot Man, had T-shirts made up, and began selling tours of the grill that once housed the leg. Mr. Whisnant claimed to be over the whole affair, but on Twitter he is still known as @FootmanNC. BC: Johns aware of that fact. Shannon Whisnant on IMDb: Movies, Tv, Celebrities, and more. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Since the documentary made waves in 2015, both Wood and Whisnant have appeared in several urban legend TV episodes, and Wood has performed charity work at the Woodford Landfill in North Carolina as a recyclables organizer. Vogue may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. It helps to understand the way Whisnant thinks when we learn that he announced last year that he was running for president. He was 83. Release Calendar Top 250 Movies Most Popular Movies Browse Movies by Genre Top Box Office Showtimes & Tickets Movie News India Movie Spotlight. Both these men, as well as their families, have their own brand of eloquence. And that's kind of, for us, where things started to fill out, and we really started to feel like we had a feature film on our hands. The first man, John Wood, is the original possessor of said foot meaning that it was once attached to the end of his leg, until doctors amputated it after he was injured in the 2004 airplane crash that killed his father. Always Sunny to Talking Sopranos: The Best TV Rewatch Podcasts Hosted By Cast & Creators, The Star Trek Story Bridging the Gaps Between Deep Space Nine and Picard, Taskmaster and The Underrated Comic Genius of Kiell Smith-Bynoe, Finders Keepers: The Spiritual Sister Documentary to Tiger King. Its a redemption story about Woods struggles with addiction. Howd they respond?BC: John and his family really liked it. The foot belonged to John Wood, a troubled addict from a wealthy background who lost it in the plane crash that killed his father. How did it end up inside the grill? Like, actually nauseous. The 2015 documentary Finders Keepers tellsthe story of John Wood and his efforts to reclaim the leghe lost in the Cessna plane crash that took his fathers life. To top things off, Wood won the lottery in 2015. Shannon Whisnant @footmannc Nov 16, 2016 This is Shannon Whisnant wife he passed away November 11 around 9 pm give or take autopsy is being preformed I will keep everyone informed 11 19 25 Shannon Whisnant @footmannc Nov 11, 2016 @RemfertLouHowdy! He wanted to preserve the leg as a memorial to his dad. But instead of the skeletal remains Wood had expected he was instead given the whole foot and leg complete with tendons, flesh, toenails and all. When the documentary footage began, he was just 30 days sober. And thats the safest place to put it., Finders Keepers, the Story of a Gnarled Leg and the Lives It Altered, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/20/movies/finders-keepers-the-story-of-a-gnarled-leg-and-the-lives-it-altered.html. With Mark Hamilton, Lisa Whisnant, Shannon Whisnant, John Wood. Enter Shannon Whisnant. Join Facebook to connect with Shannon Whisnant and others you may know. When the local media began covering the story of the legs strange odyssey, Whisnant woke up to the unique opportunity it presented, both to make some money and to seize the sort of fame hed always imagined for himself. For Shannon its been a bit more tragic. Did the shop know it was there? What made it feel like an important story to tell?Brayn Carberry: I saw this Handycam footage that Ed [Cunningham] had shot. I teach English to children in China,while sitting in the comfort of my house. Somehow, Carberry and Tweel have managed to fashion an inspirational tale out of what one local newscaster calls a freak show. In the end, Finders Keepers is about Woods recovery and I dont mean of his foot. Sidebar: Is there another term, in the film world, except footage? Mr. Wood asked during a recent interview alongside his directors in New York. He says he cries at a different part at almost every screening. ', Two Men and a Severed Foot: Inside the Most Bizarre Doc of the Year, Revisiting Hours: Ships Ahoy Master and Commander, Revisiting Hours: The Manchurian Candidate and Our Era of Perpetual War, Roy Wood Jr. This past Saturday, at the age of 46, Shannon Whisnant suffered a fatal heart attack. Everyone knew John; he was the cool kid, he was the rebel. Both have tragic backstories (one is addicted to drugs the other addicted to fame) and their parallel paths lead to redemption, disillusionment and a plan to run for President in the 2016 US election. The days after my wife, Shannon Kent, was killed by a suicide bomber during a mission to fight ISIS in Syria in January 2019 had been such a blur and, anyway, I'd never met a president before . His journey to overcome the setbacks of a hard-knock life he claims to also have been shot, electrocuted and run over at various times is the true subject of Finders Keepers. But there is another protagonist here. Got me grossed out." Whisnant passed the foot on to the local police, and once the police decided it wasn't criminal evidence, they sent it to the local morgue. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. In 2007, Shannon Whisnant, a bargain hunter from small-town Maiden, North Carolina, picked up a BBQ smoker at auction. Wood felt that Whisnant was exploiting his leg asa "freak show,"and that regardless of whether it was still attached to him, he should have control over what happensto his own body. Huntsville, Alabama. He wanted to keep the limb as a memento of sorts to his dad. Welcome to your next obsession, Finders Keepers, a bizarre story of a legal battle over a severed human leg Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness has taken the locked down world by storm, inspiring a whirlwind of memes, at least one lawsuit, and even prompting Netflix to release a hastily put together Aftershow catching up with some of the main players after the series became a humungous hit. Perhaps most compellingly, its a story about two men who are forever at odds but intrinsically connected. And he actually broke his left leg, the leg that has the leg curse on it, a couple months ago, and then he tried to walk on it too soon and re-broke it. Tendons, toenails and all. Cunningham sniffed the makings of a good story, so he flew to Wood and Whisnants town of Maiden, North Carolina, to start poking around. Wood told The Charlotte Observer that he got into charity work because he felt Finders Keepers might have convinced some viewers hewas pushing a bizarre Southern stereotype, and he wanted to prove he is more than just someguy who got into a fight over his amputated leg.
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