Was Sweeney Todd a real person? Where can I go learn more about the real person?

Question

Was Sweeney Todd a real person? Where can I go learn more about the real person?

Answer 1

If I recall from the Wikipedia article, it's sort of an old urban legend that was probably based on a grain of truth. Some barber in London probably snapped and murdered a guy in his chair and over the years the story morphed into the legend it is today. But no, I don't think there's any known person that inspired the story.

Answer 2

Some people think that there was. You can google it easily.

However, the accepted opinion (and mine, also) is that he was based on several real cases and then exaggerated and given a back-story and nemesis by Sondheim. It was true that some desperate poor people in London would bake dead people (though probably just ones littering the streets) into food, perhaps pies. Sweeney Todd probably wouldn't have killed people with his straight razor if he were real, though. He might have used the chair to flip them into the cellar, but it would be much more logical to finish them off once they were down there. The "Sweeney Todd" character was first published in a Penny Dreadful, I think...

Answer 3

wikipedia, ask.com, and google.com      DAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Answer 4

yes he was,      try google and put in his name may lead you to more info

Answer 5

he was nottt real. he was a story made up in the victorian era

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweeney_Tod...