As a young man Bass was mobile enough to work around the family farm, but he had become completely paralyzed by his forties. He spent his days in a bed attended by his family, ingesting liquids through a gap in his teeth. Upon the death of his mother in the 1880's Bass began his career as a sideshow attraction. A rather handsome mustache and extremely long fingernails on one hand gave additional flair. Bass was often displayed strapped upright onto a special litter.

Despite the problems posed by his condition (including the loss of his eyesight), Bass claimed to feel no pain and was rather optimistic in his outlook. Bass is discussed in Gould & Pyle's Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine, which says he was “quite intelligent and cheerful in spite of his complete ankylosis.” While on display in Huber's Museum in 1892 Bass contracted pneumonia. He died at home later that year.

My tribute to J. R. Bass draws upon Hans Holbein's The Body of the Dead Christ in the Tomb (1521; Kunstmuseum, Öffentliche Kunstsammlung, Basle), which realistically depicts a corpse in the state of rigor mortis.