Joe Exotic is an American personality who has appeared on television. He is also a businessman and a convicted felon who operated G.W Zoo (Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park) from 1998 to 2018.
Early life
Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage was born on 5th March 1963 in Garden City, Kansas to his parents named Francis and Shirley Schreibvogel. His parents had five children including Joe Exotic. The other four children are named Tamara, Pamela, Yarri, and Garold “G.W.” Wayne. After spending few years in Garden City, Joe’s family moved to Texas where he enrolled himself at Pilot Point High School. After doing his graduation, he joined Eastvale Texas (the police department) where he chose to become the chief of a small department. He was outed as being homosexual by his older brother Yarri in response to which he had to shook his hand with his father while promising not to come to his funeral.
In 1963, when he moved to Texas with his family where he served himself to be the chief of police in Eastvale, he then opened an animal store together with his brother. His brother died in 1997 and Exotic sold the store. Later, he found G.W Zoo and while being involved in his tenure as the director of the zoo, he arranged many magic shows and cub-petting events on the ground of his zoo which further also appeared on the television shows. He was about to create a reality television series with the producer Rick Kirkham but soon, he ended up with his efforts as a fire destroyed the whole set in 2015.
Joe Exotic Career
Soon after Exotic faced an auto accident, he moved to West Palm Beach in Florida where he managed to set up a pet store and maintained his friendship with a man who worked along with him to drive-through the safari park and while bring up the baby lions to neighbor’s home and let Exotic handle them. Exotic credits all these things to be the inspiring events in his life to make him capable of handling big animals like lions and tigers.
Exotic maintained his ownership with the G.W Zoo for over 20 years. He left the zoo when he was arrested on 18th June 2020 for a period of three months. Before going to jail and to earn money to feed himself and the animals he had in his cage, Exotic partnered with a traveling magician who used to handle the tigers during stage shows or illusions. Magic shows came out to be a good way for Exotic to earn money. He began staging with big cats on the stage of magic shows and adopted himself with the name “Joe Exotic” as his stage name.
YouTube
He has also produced videos for various songs and has uploaded them on YouTube channel. One of the well-known songs is “I Saw a Tiger” which was further featured in the movie “Tiger King” and has been covered by many future bands and artists. From 2014 to 2018, Exotic started working as an occasional wrestler and hosted two wrestling programs at the ground of his G.W Zoo. On 3rd March 2021, Exotic announced his autobiography “Tiger King: The Official Tell-All Memoir” would be released on 9th November. While being in prison, he was allowed to make use of a computer, and thereby he started working on his book every day.
Joe Exotic Biography |
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| Real Name | Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage |
| Birth Date | 5 March 1963 |
| Age (as of 2021) | 58 Years |
| Birth Place | Garden City, Kansas, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Profession | Media personality, Businessman |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Sun sign | Pisces |
Physical Statistics |
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| Height | in feet inches – 5’ 11” – in Centimeters – 180 cm |
| Weight | in Kilograms – 78 kg – in Pounds – 171 lbs |
| Shoe Size | 10 (U.S.) |
| Hair Color | Blonde |
| Eye Color | Gray |
| Body Type | Average |
Family |
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| Father | Francis Schreibvogel |
| Mother | Shirley Schreibvogel |
| Sister | None |
| Brother | Garold Wayne |
Qualification/Education |
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| School | Pilot Point High School |
| College | Not Known |
Relationship Status |
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| Marital Status | In Relationship |
| Affair | Yes |
| Is he a Gay? | Yes |
| Who is his boyfriend? | Seth P. |
Personal life
Exotic has openly declared himself to be gay and had a lot of physical relationships with his male partners. Some of which included, Brian Rhyne, who died of complications from HIV in 2001, John Finlay- an employee who was hired for G.W Zoo, J.C. Hartpence- an event manager, Travis Maldonado (who arrived in 2013), and many more.
On 11 December 2017, Exotic married Dillon Passage which was being witnessed by Travis Maldonado’s mother. Later on 26th March 2021, Passage revealed on Instagram that he and Exotic would be taking divorce and they would be ending their marriage life on a good note. In July 2021, Exotic announced a contest called “The Bachelor King” where many men over the age of 18 years participated and the winner of the contest was Seth P with whom Exotic is currently said to be in a relationship.
Joe Exotic Net Worth
Joe Exotic is an American zoo operator with an estimated net worth of more than $10 million. Apart from claiming to be one of the top Americans who can handle big cats, he has also been filmed in documentaries like “Tiger King”. There are many notable documentaries that are made on the name of Joe Exotic with numerous titles like Tiger King (2020), America’s Most Dangerous Pets (2011), and Shooting Joe Exotic (2021).
