Grimes Poznikov (c. 1946 – 2005), known as "The Human Jukebox," was a fixture of San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf in the 1970s and 1980s. He was a street performer, who would wait in a cardboard refrigerator box until a passerby offered him a donation and requested a song. He would then pop out of the box and play the requested song on a trumpet, kazoo, or one of a number of other instruments.

Poznikov was arrested several times for selling marijuana. His teeth were knocked out by police during the last arrest in the late 1980s, ending his ability to play trumpet. He later suffered from schizophrenia, began abusing drugs heavily, and ended up living on the streets. He died on October 27, 2005, of alcohol poisoning.

External links

• Broken 'Jukebox' (San Francisco Chronicle Article, December 8, 2002)
• Grimes Poznikov -- Wharf's famed 'Human Jukebox' (San Francisco Chronicle Article, November 1, 2005)
• Picture, September 1987