STRAPPED into the electric chair the man steadies himself for a climactic end to the evening, the captivated onlookers gaze agape with bated breath.

Hundreds of men have sat in the very chair in New York’s notorious Sing Sing prison, none now alive to tell the tale.

The switch is pulled, sparks fly, power surges and the crowd cheers. Thousands of volts course through his flesh, enough to kill any normal person. But this is The Great Stromboli, legendary daredevil, sword-swallower, fire-eater and magician.

Born Daniel “Danny” Lynch, Stromboli delighted generations with his cabaret shows and thrilling displays, performing alongside his wife Silvia at big tops and sideshows large and small.

During the 1950s and 60s the couple toured the world, performed for royalty and held a regular slot a Manchester’s Belle Vue. There the show climaxed with jaw-dropping high-voltage antics, as Stromboli was tethered to “Old Smokey” for his famous electric act and lit bulbs by passing the raging current through his body.

However it is for his skills with steel and and fire he is best remembered.

His striking moniker had been taken from a fiery Italian volcano, and one more fitting could not have been found for a fire-eater of the greatest calibre.

Stromboli was the world’s best, holding the record for blowing the highest frequency of 136 scorching flames from his mouth using a whisky glass of “fuel”.

He is confessed to have made a greater attempt, a feat of 214 flames. But in his exertion he blacked out and lost count ­— his attempt ultimately disqualified to discourage anyone fool enough to emulate him.

Such talents lead him to star as a fire-eater in The 1980 film The Elephant Man, and later The Bride and Princess Caraboo.

He had first got a taste for such unusual crafts whilst serving overseas during the Second World War.

After joining the navy aged 15 Mr Lynch sailed aboard Destroyers tasked with protecting Arctic convoys on perilous missions to resupply the Soviet Union.

In 1942 his ship came under enemy fire on the journey from Scotland to Murmansk, but owing to the bravery of Mr Lynch and his comrades the Germans were repelled.

He was also dispatched to Malta, France, Singapore and Japan, and in 2017 received an Ushakov Medal from the Russian government.

After the war, Mr Lynch served in the Merchant Service in Australia and later returned to his home and sold life insurance in Manchester, before the stage and stardom came calling.

However Stromboli was also famed on another account.

A self-proclaimed “unusualist”, he and Silvia resided in Ringley Road, Stoneclough, where dwelt Stromboli’s “horror cellar”.

Hidden away the vault housed strange curiosities, extraordinary oddities, and a menagerie of deformed and bizarre stuffed animals collected during Mr Lynch’s travels.

The assembled curios, including a two-headed calf, shrunken heads and the skin of the world’s longest snake, enraptured all who saw them and kept the sideshows of Ripley’s museum in Blackpool well stocked.

Daniel Lynch died aged 86 at the Royal Bolton Hospital on April 9, just five weeks after the loss of his wife. But his beloved and eccentric legacy will never be forgotten.