View source for Michel Lotito

{{Short description|French entertainer (1950–2006)}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Michel Lotito
| image              = Michel Lotito.jpeg
| caption            = Lotito eating parts of a [[Cessna 150|Cessna 150 aircraft]]
| birth_name         = Michel Dominique Lotito
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1950|06|16|df=y}}
| birth_place        = [[Villard-Bonnot]], France
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|2006|04|17|1950|06|16|df=y}}
| death_place        = [[Grenoble]], France
| resting_place      = [[Saint Roch Cemetery]], Grenoble
| other_names        = Monsieur Mangetout
| known_for          = Eating unusual objects
| occupation         = [[Entertainer]]
}}
'''Michel Lotito''' ({{IPA|fr|miʃɛl lɔtito}}; {{Date|16 June 1950}}{{spaced ndash}}{{Date|17 April 2006}}<ref name="matchid">{{cite web |date=2006 |title=Michel Dominique LOTITO |url=https://deces.matchid.io/id/HKFTgNFRjb7a |website=deces.matchid.io |publisher=[[French Republic|République Française]] |language=fr-FR }}</ref>) was a [[French people|French]] [[entertainer]] famous for deliberate [[Ingestion|consumption]] of indigestible objects. He came to be known as '''Monsieur Mangetout''' ({{Literal translation|Mister Eats-All}}). His [[digestive system]] allowed him to consume up to {{Convert|900|g|lb|abbr=on}} of metal per day. He started eating this unusual diet at age 16.<ref>{{cite news|title=Man eats 15 pounds of bicycle|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=sltVAAAAIBAJ&pg=6865,2906680&dq=michel-lotito&hl=en|newspaper=The Leader-Post|date=September 7, 1978}}</ref>{{Verification needed|date=June 2025|reason=Challenged by another citation.}}

==Career==
{{Self-contradictory|about=the start date of diet (see <ref name="Curra2013" /> and <ref>{{cite news|title=Man eats 15 pounds of bicycle|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=sltVAAAAIBAJ&pg=6865,2906680&dq=michel-lotito&hl=en|newspaper=The Leader-Post|date=September 7, 1978}}</ref>)|date=June 2025}}
Michel Lotito began eating unusual material at 16 years of age,<ref name="Curra2013" />{{Verification needed|date=June 2025|reason=Challenged by another citation.}} and he performed publicly beginning in 1966, around the age of 16. He had an [[eating disorder]] known as [[pica (disorder)|pica]], a [[psychological disorder]] characterised by an [[appetite]] for substances that are largely non-nutritive. Doctors determined that Lotito also had a thick [[Stomach lining|lining]] in his [[stomach]] and [[intestines]] which allowed his consumption of sharp metal without suffering [[injury]].<ref name=":0">{{cite news|url=http://tailgatefan.cbslocal.com/2012/10/01/michel-lotito-the-man-who-ate-an-airplane-and-everything-else/|title=Michel Lotito: The Man Who Ate An Airplane And Everything Else|last=Lorenzo|first=Tom|date=October 1, 2012|access-date=April 6, 2017|publisher=CBS|archive-date=April 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404095344/http://tailgatefan.cbslocal.com/2012/10/01/michel-lotito-the-man-who-ate-an-airplane-and-everything-else/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Lotito also had [[digestive juices]] that were unusually powerful, meaning that he could digest the unusual materials. Soft foods, such as [[Banana|bananas]], gave him [[heartburn]], specifically when he had metal in his stomach.<ref>"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rLl7E_sIpc Michel Lotito]" (video). ''ABC International''. YouTube. 2018.</ref>{{clarify|date=February 2021}}

Lotito's performance involved the [[Ingestion|consumption]] of [[metal]], [[glass]], [[rubber]] and other materials. He disassembled, cut up, and consumed items such as [[bicycles]], [[shopping carts]], [[televisions]], [[bed]]s and a [[Cessna 150]],<ref name=":1">{{cite news |last1=Barron |first1=James |last2=Nagourney |first2=Adam |date=August 30, 2000 |title=Not Half Bad With Ketchup |page=B2 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/08/30/nyregion/public-lives.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm |url-access=limited}}</ref> among other items. It took him roughly 2 years, from {{Date|1978}} to {{Date|1980}}, to eat the Cessna 150.{{Efn|In {{Date|2022}}, Madison Dapcevich of ''[[Snopes]]'', a [[fact-checking]] website, investigated Lotito's claim that he ate an entire [[airplane]]. She concluded that although there are many accounts of Lotito's consumption of unusual objects and that he "very likely" consumed such objects on stage as a professional entertainer, she was unable to confirm that Lotito ate an entire airplane (or even part of one).<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Dapcevich |first=Madison |date=March 7, 2022 |title=Meet Michel Lotito, the Man Who Ate an Entire Airplane ... or So He Claimed |url=https://www.snopes.com/news/2022/03/07/michel-lotito-ate-entire-airplane/ |access-date=September 11, 2023 |website=[[Snopes]]}}</ref>}}{{Cn|date=June 2025}}

Lotito claimed not to suffer [[Side effect|ill effects]] from his consumption of substances typically considered [[poisonous]]. When performing, he ingested approximately {{convert|1|kg}} of material daily, preceding it with [[mineral oil]] and drinking considerable quantities of [[water]] during the meal.<ref>{{cite news|last=Tiede|first=Tom|title=Prodigies bag big bucks by going pro|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QXZbAAAAIBAJ&pg=4949,160500&dq=michel-lotito&hl=en|newspaper=The Madison Courier|date=February 4, 1980}}</ref> It is estimated that between 1959 and 1997, Lotito "had eaten nearly nine tons of metal."<ref name="telegraph">{{cite news |date=September 17, 2008 |title=Weird world records: bizarre entries in the Guinness Book of World Records |newspaper=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/howaboutthat/2976278/Weird-world-records-bizarre-entries-in-the-Guinness-Book-of-World-Records.html?image=3}}</ref>{{Clarify|reason=Tons in which unit system? Metric or imperial?|date=June 2025}}

Lotito's method for eating all of this metal was to break it into small pieces before attempting to eat it. He then drank mineral oil and continued to drink water while swallowing the metal bits. This allowed him to swallow the metal without damaging his throat. Lotito did not have any digestive problems as a result of his unusual diet.<ref name=mayer>{{cite book|title=You Don't Know Sh*t|publisher=St. Martin's Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-64990-6|page=40|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ROdrYZWYde8C&q=%22monsieur+mangetout%22&pg=PA40|author1=Doug Mayer |author2=Val Stori |author3=Tod von Jahnes  |name-list-style=amp |date=2011-08-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Miles Kelly Publishing|title=Ripley's Believe it or Not: Arts & Entertainment|publisher=Ripley Entertainment, Inc|isbn=978-1893951150|year=2006}}</ref><ref name=RIPLEYS2>{{cite web |url= https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/mangetout/ |title= The Man Who Ate An Airplane Piece By Piece |publisher=[[Ripley's Believe It or Not!]] |date= 2 April 2019 |accessdate= 6 June 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210303032333/https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/mangetout/ |archive-date= 3 March 2021 |url-status= live}}</ref>

==Awards==
Lotito holds the record for the "strangest diet" in the ''[[Guinness Book of Records]]''. He was awarded a [[Commemorative plaque|plaque]], made of [[brass]], by the publishers to commemorate his abilities. He ate his award.<ref name="Curra2013">{{cite book|author=John Curra|title=The Relativity of Deviance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mbCNAQAAQBAJ&q=brass+plaque&pg=PT788|date=16 April 2013|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-1-4833-2120-2|page=78}}</ref>

==Death==
Lotito died of natural causes at age 55 on {{Date|17 April 2006}}, in [[Grenoble]].<ref name=matchid/><ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtyKNFqutHM |title=The Man With The Strangest Diet... - Guinness World Records |date=2022-10-21 |last=Guinness World Records |access-date=2024-10-27 |via=YouTube}}</ref>

==List of unusual items allegedly consumed==
At least:<ref name="Curra2013" /><ref name="telegraph" />{{Citation needed|reason=The cited sources substantiate neither the full list nor the quantity of items consumed.|date=February 2024}}

{{colbegin}}

*45 [[door hinge]]s
*18 [[bicycles]]
*15 [[shopping cart]]s
*7 [[television set]]s
*6 [[chandelier]]s
*2 [[bed]]s
*1 pair of [[ski]]s
*1 [[computer]]
*1 copy of the textbook [[Gravitation (book)|''Gravitation'']] by Misner, Thorne and Wheeler
*1 [[Cessna 150]] light aircraft
*1 [[waterbed]]
*{{convert|500|m|ft}} of [[steel]] [[chain]]
*1 [[coffin]] (with [[handle]]s)
*1 ''[[Guinness World Records]]'' award plaque
*Assorted [[razor]]s and [[Bolt (fastener)|bolt]]s
{{colend}}

==In popular culture==
*''The Man Who Ate the 747'' (2000) is the debut novel of [[Ben Sherwood]]. It follows a record keeper for ''The Book of Records'' who discovers a [[farmer]] attempting to [[Courtship|romantically impress a woman]] by gradually eating a [[Boeing 747]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 1, 2000 |title=THE MAN WHO ATE THE 747 |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ben-sherwood/the-man-who-ate-the-747/ |access-date=September 11, 2023 |website=[[Kirkus Reviews]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Man Who Ate the 747 |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780553801828 |access-date=September 11, 2023 |website=[[Publishers Weekly]]}}</ref> The novel was heavily inspired by ''The Guinness Book of World Records''; Sherwood interviewed Lotito via [[telephone]] as part of his research.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />
*''How to Eat an Airplane'' (2016) is a picture book based on Lotito, written by Peter Pearson and illustrated by Mircea Catusanu.<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 15, 2016 |title=HOW TO EAT AN AIRPLANE |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/peter-pearson/how-to-eat-an-airplane/ |access-date=September 11, 2023 |website=[[Kirkus Reviews]]}}</ref>

== See also ==

* {{Annotated link|Tarrare}}

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Ripley's Believe It or Not!}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lotito, Michel}}
[[Category:1950 births]]
[[Category:2007 deaths]]
[[Category:French performance artists]]
[[Category:People from Grenoble]]
[[Category:Pica (disorder)]]
[[Category:Ripley's Believe It or Not!]]