The Life of Robert Stroud, the “Birdman” of Alcatraz

Brought to public awareness primarily by the 1962 American biographical film, Birdman of Alcatraz (starring Burt Lancaster), Robert Stroud was a convicted murderer. He was sent to federal prison where he spent 42 years in solitary confinement.

Yet incredibly, he developed such an obsession with birds that he became one of the foremost authorities on canaries in the world. 

(It should be noted that while Stroud did serve time in Alcatraz, it was actually while incarcerated at Leavenworth Penitentiary, Kansas, that the “bird” phase of his story takes place.)

Childhood

Robert Franklin Stroud was born on January 28, 1890, in Seattle, Washington. He was the eldest child of Benjamin Franklin Stroud and Elizabeth Jane (née McCartney), a divorcee with two daughters from a previous marriage. The Strouds had a second son, born two years after Robert.

Stroud’s father was an alcoholic who abused his wife and children. He drove his eldest son to turn to the streets at an early age. Stroud quit school after the third grade and ran away from home at the age of 13.

Early Life

At age 18, Stroud made his way to the Alaska Territory to work on a railroad construction gang. But he soon began a relationship with an older prostitute and dance-hall entertainer named Kitty O’Brien. 

Stroud and O’Brien, hoping for a better life, moved to Juneau, Alaska. Which was at that time, a booming gold town. This is where the event occurred that would forever change his life.

While the details of the story are unclear, it seems that a bartender named Charlie Van Dahmer (Damer) had been one of O’Brien’s regular customers. But on this occasion, not only did Van Dahmer refuse to pay O’Brien for her services, he beat her. 

Unwilling to let the incident go, Stroud shot and killed the man. He then took his wallet to ensure that he and O’Brien were compensated.  

Believing himself in the right, Stroud surrendered to the local marshal, who promptly arrested him. Subsequently found guilty of manslaughter, on August 23, 1909, Stroud was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison.