Early life Greenstein was born to a
Jewish family in
Suwałki,
Poland, in 1893. As a child he suffered from respiratory ailments, and at age 14, a team of doctors predicted he would die from
tuberculosis. Around that time, he became acquainted with a Russian circus strongman, Champion Volanko, who mentored Greenstein. Greenstein traveled with Volanko and the Issakoff Brothers Circus for eighteen months, learning the strongman's training regimen. After this, he returned to Poland and married his wife, Leah.
Career He began his career as a wrestler. However, due in part to rising
anti-Semitism in
Eastern Europe, he then left for the
United States. He first went to
Galveston, Texas, working as a dockworker and oil field worker. He also wrestled professionally at this time as Kid Greenstein. In 1914,
The Houston Daily Post reported that a friend of Greenstein accidentally shot him in the middle of the forehead. The report states the bullet did not enter his skull, and "flattened out against his forehead". This experience sparked Greenstein's interest in the mental powers associated with strength, and he gradually developed an array of strongman feats. He was featured five times in ''
Ripley's Believe It Or Not and in the 1976 Guinness Book of World Records''. Two of Greenstein's feats included biting through an iron nail and bending iron
horseshoes by hand. An iron nail and iron horseshoes are on display at the Weightlifting Hall of Fame in
York, Pennsylvania. Later in life, Greenstein sold
coconut oil soaps and health elixirs at fairs and
farmers' markets. He traveled in an old
Model A truck with panels that opened to show his extensive collection of newsclippings and citations from civic leaders and organizations. New York City Mayor LaGuardia issued a proclamation, thanking Greenstein for showing his skills to the city's police department. Greenstein had volunteered to teach
jujutsu techniques to members of the New York City auxiliary police during
World War II, years before the technique became widespread in the United States. Greenstein continued performing his strongman feats well into his eighties, giving his last performance at his great-grandchild's first birthday on May 11, 1977, at
Madison Square Garden at the age of 84. He dazzled the audience by bending horseshoes and driving spikes through metal with the palm of his hand.
Personal life and death Joe and Leah Greenstein had ten children. Greenstein succumbed to
cancer on October 8, 1977, at age 84. ==Legacy==