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The Real Story Behind the Birdman of Alcatraz!
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Aug 5, 2025
This **true crime** documentary examines the popular image of **robert franklin stroud**, the Birdman of Alcatraz, and contrasts it with the darker realities of his life. Learn more about his time in **alcatraz** and the truth behind this **criminal**'s story, as well as the myths surrounding his **prison life**. Was he truly a gentle soul, or a dangerous con? -~-~~-~~~-~~-~--~-~~-~~~-~~-~--~-~~-~~~-~~-~- ⚠️ Content Disclaimer: This video is created for educational and informational purposes only. We do NOT glorify, promote, or encourage any form of criminal activity. All visuals, audio, and materials used in this video are either: ✔ Created using AI tools, or ✔ Sourced from royalty-free platforms with valid licenses. Some images and characters have been generated using AI and do not represent real people or events. No copyrighted content belonging to others has been used without permission. ❤️ Support the Channel: If you enjoy learning about real-life crime stories, history, and social issues, don't forget to: ✔ Like the video ✔ Subscribe to the channel ✔ Share your thoughts in the comments Your support helps us keep creating more valuable content! 🔧 Tools I Use to Grow This Channel: I personally use vidIQ to optimize my videos, find trending keywords, and grow my YouTube channel faster. Try it for free and see the difference!
View Video Transcript
0:00
The world thinks it knows Robert
0:02
Straoud, the birdman of Alcatraz. He's
0:05
remembered as a sensitive soul who found
0:08
redemption by caring for birds. A story
0:11
so powerful it was turned into an Oscar
0:14
nominated movie. The film painted him as
0:17
a quiet, compassionate man who, despite
0:20
being caged, learned to soar, becoming a
0:23
respected scientist from behind the
0:26
walls of America's most infamous prison.
0:29
His story became a symbol of human
0:31
potential, of a man atoning for his past
0:35
through a deep connection with nature.
0:38
It's a tale of gentle genius winning out
0:42
over a brutal system. But here's the
0:45
thing, that story, it's a lie. It's a
0:49
carefully built myth that hides a
0:51
chilling and violent reality. The truth
0:55
is far more sinister. This is the untold
0:59
story of the real Robert Straoud. A man
1:03
so violent and manipulative that he was
1:06
considered one of the most dangerous
1:07
prisoners in the history of the federal
1:10
prison system. He wasn't the Birdman of
1:12
Alcatraz. He was a stone cold killer, a
1:16
diagnosed psychopath. And his real story
1:19
isn't one of redemption, but of a
1:22
darkness so profound it was kept locked
1:25
away from the world for decades.
1:28
Section one, the myth of the Birdman.
1:31
The legend of the Birdman of Alcatraz is
1:34
one of the most stubborn myths in
1:35
American crime history. It really took
1:38
off with a 1955 biography by Thomas E.
1:42
Gatis titled Birdman of Alcatraz.
1:46
Gatis, a passionate advocate for prison
1:48
reform, saw Straoud as a brilliant, if
1:51
difficult man who'd been chewed up by a
1:54
cruel and unforgiving system. The book
1:57
detailed his incredible journey into the
2:00
world of ornithology, painting a picture
2:02
of a man who found purpose studying the
2:05
delicate creatures he nursed back to
2:08
health in his cell. This romantic idea
2:11
was locked into the public's imagination
2:13
by the 1962 film of the same name.
2:17
Starring the incredibly charismatic Bert
2:20
Lancaster. The movie gave us a deeply
2:23
sympathetic version of Straoud. It
2:25
showed him as a quiet, mildmannered man
2:29
whose violent past was just a tragic
2:31
mistake he spent his whole life making
2:34
up for. The film focused almost entirely
2:37
on his birds, his scientific work, and
2:41
his constant battles with a heartless
2:43
warden. The Straoud on screen was a
2:46
victim, a gentle intellectual just
2:50
fighting for a little dignity. Audiences
2:53
ate it up. They saw a man who, robbed of
2:56
his freedom, built a world of his own.
2:59
After the film came out, a massive
3:02
public campaign kicked off with people
3:05
from all over demanding his release.
3:08
They weren't just asking for freedom for
3:09
a convict. They believed they were
3:12
demanding justice for the gentle,
3:14
misunderstood genius. They thought they
3:18
knew his story, but they knew the myth.
3:20
And it couldn't have been further from
3:22
the horrifying truth. Section two, the
3:25
shocking reveal. early life and descent.
3:29
To get to the real Robert Straoud, you
3:32
have to go far from Alcatraz, back to
3:35
Seattle, Washington, where he was born
3:38
in 1890.
3:40
His childhood wasn't happy. His father
3:43
was abusive and home was a place of
3:46
turmoil. At just 13 years old, Straoud
3:50
ran away, cutting ties with his family
3:53
and heading down a dark path. He
3:57
drifted, taking odd jobs, but his life
4:00
was pulling him towards society's gritty
4:03
underbelly. By 18, he was in the rugged,
4:07
lawless Alaska territory. And it was
4:11
there in Juno that Straoud found his
4:14
first real hustle, not as a worker, but
4:18
as a pimp. He managed a 36-year-old
4:21
dance hall entertainer and prostitute
4:24
named Kitty O'Brien. This wasn't a
4:28
glamorous life. It was a brutal
4:30
transactional one. And it was here in
4:33
January 1909 that Straoud's lethal
4:37
violence first exploded. The incident
4:40
started over a dispute with a bartender
4:42
named FK Charlie Von Dharma. Accounts
4:46
say Von Dharma either refused to pay
4:49
Kitty or had assaulted her. For Straoud,
4:52
this was an insult he wouldn't let
4:54
slide. He armed himself with a pistol,
4:58
confronted Von Darmama, and after a
5:00
struggle, shot and killed him. To finish
5:04
the job, he took the man's wallet.
5:07
Straoud turned himself in, but was
5:10
convicted of manslaughter and sentenced
5:12
to 12 years in the federal penitentiary
5:15
on McNeel Island. He was only 19. And
5:19
his life as a federal prisoner had
5:22
begun. But this wasn't the story of a
5:25
young man who made one tragic mistake.
5:29
Prison just gave him a new stage for his
5:32
escalating violence. At McNeel Island,
5:36
Straoud quickly earned a reputation as a
5:38
dangerous and impossible inmate. He was
5:41
a predator looking for weakness. He
5:44
viciously assaulted a hospital orderly
5:47
and in another incident stabbed a fellow
5:51
inmate. His behavior was so hostile that
5:54
he got an additional 6-month sentence.
5:57
It was clear to the authorities that
5:59
Straoud wasn't just another tough
6:02
prisoner. He was a menace. In 1912, he
6:06
was transferred to a place designed for
6:09
the worst of the worst, Levvenworth
6:12
Federal Penitentiary in Kansas. The move
6:15
was supposed to control him. Instead, it
6:19
set the stage for an act so shocking it
6:22
would seal his fate forever. Section
6:25
three, the point of no return.
6:27
Levvenworth and the murder of a guard.
6:31
When Robert Straoud got to Levvenworth,
6:33
he was a hardened 22year-old con with a
6:37
rap sheet full of violence. For a little
6:40
while, it seemed like he might actually
6:43
be turning a corner. He showed a
6:45
surprising knack for learning, enrolling
6:48
in university extension courses in
6:50
things like mechanical drawing and math.
6:53
It looked like the intellectual spark
6:55
that would later define his myth was
6:58
starting to catch fire. But all that
7:01
book learning did nothing to cool the
7:04
rage simmering just beneath the surface.
7:06
The violence was always there, waiting
7:09
for a reason to boil over. That reason
7:13
came on March 26th, 1916.
7:17
The day started with a minor infraction.
7:20
A guard named Andrew Turner wrote
7:23
Straoud up, which meant his scheduled
7:26
visit with his younger brother, who he
7:28
hadn't seen in 8 years, was cancelled.
7:31
For Strad, this wasn't just a
7:34
disappointment. It was an unbearable
7:36
insult. Later that day, in the massive
7:40
prison mess hall packed with over a
7:42
thousand inmates, Straoud made his move.
7:46
He walked up to guard Turner. In front
7:49
of that room full of witnesses, Straoud
7:52
plunged a 6in homemade shiv deep into
7:56
Turner's chest, piercing his heart. The
7:59
guard collapsed and died within minutes.
8:02
This wasn't a chaotic attack. It was a
8:05
targeted assassination.
8:07
Straoud showed zero remorse. In his own
8:11
chilling words, he later wrote, "The
8:14
guard took ill and died all of a sudden.
8:17
He had a heart condition. Puncture of
8:20
the heart. There was a knife hole in it.
8:23
This cold sarcasm was almost more
8:26
terrifying than the murder itself. He
8:29
was tried for first-degree murder, found
8:32
guilty, and sentenced to death by
8:35
hanging. For 3 years, Straoud fought the
8:39
sentence. His case went through multiple
8:41
trials and appeals, even reaching the
8:44
Supreme Court. Each time he was
8:47
convicted again and the death sentence
8:50
was upheld. With all legal options gone,
8:54
his mother Elizabeth launched a
8:56
desperate campaign to save her son,
8:59
pleading directly with President Woodro
9:02
Wilson. In 1920, just days before the
9:06
execution, the president commuted
9:08
Straoud's sentence to life imprisonment
9:11
without the possibility of parole.
9:14
Straoud had dodged the gallows, but the
9:17
warden of Levvenworth, TWW Morgan, was
9:21
furious. He knew what Straoud was and
9:24
believed his extreme violence made him a
9:26
permanent threat. The warden ordered
9:29
that Straoud serve his life sentence in
9:32
permanent segregation.
9:34
Totally isolated from everyone else.
9:37
Robert Straoud was now condemned to a
9:40
life alone in a cell. And it was in that
9:43
profound isolation that something
9:46
strange and unexpected would happen.
9:49
Something that would create a legend
9:52
built on a foundation of blood. Section
9:55
4, the birth of the Birdman. But not at
9:59
Alcatraz.
10:01
In 1920, locked away in segregation at
10:04
Levvenworth, Robert Straoud began what
10:07
should have been a life of pure
10:09
monotony. But one day in the prison
10:12
yard, his life took a wild turn. Straoud
10:16
found a fallen nest with several injured
10:19
baby sparrows. He took the tiny
10:22
creatures back to his cell and started
10:24
caring for them. This small act, so
10:27
completely at odds with his violent
10:30
history, lit the fuse for a lifelong
10:33
obsession.
10:34
This was the birth of the Birdman. And
10:37
it's critical to understand this all
10:40
happened at Levvenworth, not Alcatraz.
10:43
The name Birdman of Alcatraz is totally
10:47
wrong. Straoud became a man with a new
10:50
purpose. He read every book on
10:53
ornithology he could find. When he
10:56
realized the books didn't have all the
10:58
answers, he became a scientist. Using a
11:03
razor blade and a nail, he built his
11:05
first bird cage out of wooden crates.
11:09
Amazingly, the prison warden saw
11:12
Straoud, the murderer turned bird
11:15
expert, as the perfect poster child for
11:18
rehabilitation.
11:20
The prison gave him proper cages,
11:22
chemicals, and lab equipment. His cell
11:26
was transformed into a lab and avary. He
11:30
was allowed to breed canaries and soon
11:33
his collection swelled to nearly 300
11:36
birds. He ran experiments, dissected
11:39
birds that died and created his own
11:42
remedies for aven diseases. He even
11:46
started a mail order business from his
11:48
cell, selling his medicines to bird
11:50
lovers across the country. His work made
11:54
real contributions to aven pathology.
11:58
In 1943,
12:00
he published his major work, Straoud's
12:03
Digest on the Diseases of Birds, a book
12:07
that earned him respect from many bird
12:10
enthusiasts and experts. He was a true
12:13
paradox, a convicted killer in solitary
12:17
who had become a leading expert on bird
12:19
diseases. But the gentle image of the
12:22
scholar and his birds was just one side
12:26
of the coin. The prison staff saw the
12:29
other Straoud. They saw a manipulator
12:33
who was demanding and never showed an
12:35
ounce of gratitude for his special
12:38
privileges. His birdkeeping was often a
12:41
cover for other activities. Prison
12:44
officials were furious when they
12:46
discovered that some of his lab
12:48
equipment was actually a homemade still
12:51
for brewing alcohol. Contraband
12:55
was constantly found hidden among his
12:58
bird supplies. The birdman of
13:00
Levvenworth was a dedicated scientist,
13:03
but he was also still Robert Straoud, a
13:06
volatile, manipulative, and dangerous
13:10
man, and the authorities were getting
13:12
sick of it. It's this deep contrast, the
13:15
shocking difference between the public
13:17
myth and the private reality that makes
13:20
this story so unbelievable.
13:23
If you're finding this untold story as
13:26
fascinating as I do, please take a
13:28
second to hit the like button and
13:31
subscribe for more deep dives into
13:33
forgotten history. Your support helps us
13:36
keep digging up the truths that time has
13:39
tried to bury. Section five, The Rock.
13:42
The real Alcatraz years. For years, the
13:46
federal prison system put up with Robert
13:48
Straoud's games at Levvenworth. But by
13:51
the early 1940s, their patience had run
13:54
out. When they found out Straoud was
13:57
using his lab equipment to distill
13:59
alcohol, that was the final straw. They
14:02
decided he was too defiant and dangerous
14:05
to stay there. He needed to go to a
14:07
place designed for America's most
14:10
encouraable inmates. On December 19th,
14:13
1942,
14:15
Straoud was told he was being
14:17
transferred. He had 10 minutes notice.
14:20
He was forced to leave everything
14:21
behind. His birds, his books, his entire
14:26
world. His beloved birds were sent to
14:29
his brother. Robert Straoud, inmate
14:32
number 594,
14:34
was put on a train to the one prison
14:37
from which there was no escape,
14:39
Alcatraz.
14:41
Life on the rock was a brutal shock. The
14:45
first and most important rule for
14:46
Straoud was made crystal clear. There
14:49
would be no birds at Alcatraz.
14:52
The name that would make him famous,
14:54
Birdman of Alcatraz, was a complete
14:57
fiction. He never kept a single bird
15:00
during his 17 years on the island. He
15:03
spent his first 6 years in DB block, the
15:06
prison's segregation unit, locked in his
15:09
cell for nearly 24 hours a day. It was
15:12
here, free from the romanticism of his
15:14
birds, that Straoud's true nature was
15:17
laid bare. In 1943, he underwent a
15:22
psychiatric evaluation.
15:24
The diagnosis confirmed what the guards
15:27
had known for years. Robert Straoud was
15:30
a psychopath with an above average IQ of
15:33
112, making him intelligent enough to be
15:37
dangerously manipulative. The guards and
15:40
inmates at Alcatraz didn't see a gentle
15:43
scholar. They saw a cold, calculating,
15:46
and deeply unpleasant man. One former
15:50
inmate, Jim Quillin, called Straoud a
15:53
jerk. who liked chaos and turmoil,
15:56
always at somebody else's expense.
15:59
Glenn Williams, another convict who knew
16:02
him, was disgusted by the Hollywood
16:04
movie, stating bluntly, "He was not a
16:07
sweetheart. He was a vicious killer. I
16:10
think Bert Lancaster owes us all an
16:13
apology."
16:14
Straoud spent his last 11 years at
16:17
Alcatraz in the prison hospital wing,
16:20
still in isolation. He studied law and
16:24
wrote manuscripts, but he was forbidden
16:26
from publishing them. He was an old man.
16:30
But his reputation as a feared inmate
16:33
never faded. The real story of Robert
16:36
Straoud at Alcatraz isn't about birds or
16:39
redemption. It's the story of a
16:42
diagnosed psychopath stripped of his
16:44
props, living out his days in isolation
16:47
because he was to the very end
16:49
considered too great a threat to ever be
16:52
near other people. Section six, the
16:55
Battle of Alcatraz. Fact versus fiction.
16:58
On May 2nd, 1946,
17:00
the quiet of Alcatraz was shattered by
17:03
gunfire. The Battle of Alcatraz had
17:06
begun. It was the most violent escape
17:09
attempt in the prison's history. Six
17:13
inmates overpowered guards, grabbed
17:16
weapons, and took control of the main
17:18
cell house. Their plan fell apart when
17:22
they realized they didn't have the key
17:24
to the yard door, their final obstacle.
17:28
Trapped and armed, they decided to fight
17:31
to the death. The bloody siege lasted 2
17:34
days and even required the US Marines to
17:37
intervene. When it was over, two guards
17:41
and three of the escapees were dead.
17:44
Robert Straoud was right in the middle
17:46
of it, housed in the DBlock segregation
17:49
unit. Given his reputation, what did he
17:53
do? Did the violent psychopath join the
17:56
chaos? The truth is more complicated.
17:59
Straoud did not participate in the
18:01
violence. He stayed in his cell. In
18:04
fact, some accounts from the time credit
18:07
him with helping to end the riot. When
18:10
the armed convicts tried to get the keys
18:13
to DBlock to free more men, Straoud
18:16
reportedly thwarted their efforts from
18:18
his cell, possibly saving the lives of
18:21
hostage guards. But was this heroism a
18:25
moment of redemption? Don't count on it.
18:28
Straoud was above all a creature of
18:32
self-preservation.
18:34
He would have known instantly that the
18:37
escape attempt was a suicide mission.
18:40
The inmates were trapped. Joining them
18:43
would have been a death sentence. His
18:45
actions weren't likely born from a
18:48
change of heart. It was a calculated
18:50
move. By opposing the riers, he
18:53
distanced himself from their failure and
18:56
probably hoped to score points with the
18:58
authorities.
19:00
It was just another example of his
19:02
manipulative intelligence at work.
19:05
Section 7, the Hollywood machine. How
19:08
the myth was cemented for decades.
19:11
Robert Straoud was just inmate number
19:14
594.
19:16
But in 1955,
19:18
that all changed with Thomas Gatis'
19:20
book, Birdman of Alcatraz.
19:24
Gatis' book painted Straoud in a
19:26
sympathetic light, emphasizing the
19:28
scholar over the killer. The book was a
19:31
success, but it was the 1962 film
19:34
adaptation that launched The Myth into
19:37
the Stratosphere. The movie was an
19:39
independent project spearheaded by its
19:42
star, Bert Lancaster. This gave him the
19:45
freedom to tell the story he wanted away
19:49
from the prying eyes of the prison
19:51
system. The screenplay sanded off all of
19:55
Straoud's rough edges. The movie
19:57
deliberately changed facts to make
20:00
Straoud more heroic. For instance, the
20:03
murder of guard Andrew Turner wasn't
20:06
over a canceled visit from his brother.
20:08
The film changed it to a denied visit
20:11
for his mother, a far more sympathetic
20:13
motive. The film erased his psychopathic
20:16
tendencies, his manipulative nature, and
20:19
the terror he inspired in others. It
20:22
ends with a plea for his parole, leaving
20:25
audiences feeling that a great injustice
20:28
was being done. The impact was
20:31
immediate. The public was furious. A
20:34
massive free Robert Straoud movement
20:37
sprang up with petitions gathering
20:40
hundreds of thousands of signatures.
20:43
Bert Lancaster himself became a vocal
20:46
advocate. For the men who had actually
20:48
known Straoud, the film was a bad joke.
20:52
Former guards and officials were
20:54
outraged. They tried to set the record
20:57
straight, releasing information about
21:00
Straoud's true nature, his violent
21:02
temper, his schemes, his diagnosis as a
21:06
psychopath. But their reports were no
21:09
match for a Hollywood blockbuster and a
21:11
charismatic movie star. The myth was
21:15
simply more powerful than the truth.
21:18
Straoud himself never saw the movie. He
21:21
died on November 21st, 1963,
21:25
still a prisoner, the same year Alcatraz
21:28
was permanently closed. The movie didn't
21:31
win him his freedom, but it cemented his
21:33
legacy, not as the man he was, but as
21:37
the man Hollywood created. Section 8,
21:40
the two Straouds, legacy and conclusion.
21:44
So, who was Robert Straoud? The gentle
21:47
intellectual who found redemption with
21:49
his birds, or inmate number 594, the
21:53
coldblooded, manipulative psychopath.
21:56
The truth is, he was both. And that
21:58
disturbing duality is where the real
22:01
story is. There's no denying Straoud,
22:04
the ornithologist. With only a third
22:07
grade education, he taught himself
22:10
enough to become a published expert in
22:12
his field. Making genuine contributions
22:15
to aven science from a solitary cell, an
22:19
incredible feat of discipline. This is
22:22
the man the world fell in love with. But
22:25
there is also Straoud the killer. A man
22:29
who started his adult life as a pimp and
22:32
killed at 19. The man who stabbed a
22:36
guard to death in front of a thousand
22:38
witnesses and felt nothing. The inmate
22:42
so dangerous he had to be kept in
22:44
isolation for 42 years not as punishment
22:47
but to keep others safe. This was the
22:50
man described by fellow convicts as a
22:54
vicious chaosloving manipulator.
22:57
The two realities are impossible to
23:00
square and that's the heart of his
23:03
legacy. The public story shaped by a
23:06
book and a film chose to focus on the
23:09
birds. It's a nicer story. It speaks to
23:13
our hope for redemption. But by
23:16
embracing that comforting myth, the
23:18
world ignored the terrifying truth, it
23:22
sanitized a dangerous man, turning a
23:25
remorseless killer into a folk hero. The
23:29
final undeniable fact is this. Robert
23:33
Strad was not the birdman of Alcatraz.
23:37
He was the murderer of Levvenworth. He
23:40
never kept birds on the rock. and his
23:43
time there wasn't a story of triumph but
23:46
of necessary confinement. He was a
23:49
brilliant man but his brilliance was
23:51
tangled up with a profound and dangerous
23:54
darkness. The untold story of Robert
23:57
Straoud is not about redemption. It's
24:00
the story of a man who lived two lives.
24:04
One in a world of science and myth and
24:07
the other in the cold hard reality of
24:10
his own violent nature. And it is the
24:13
latter that remains his truest and most
24:16
chilling legacy.