{{Short description|British tattooed man (1935–2016)}} {{Use British English|date=April 2023}} {{Infobox person |name = Tom Leppard |birth_name = Thomas Wooldridge |image = |caption = |birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1935|10|14}} |birth_place = Woodbridge, UK |death_date = {{death date and age|2016|6|12|1935|10|14|df=y}} |death_place = Inverness, Scotland |other_names = Leopard Man, Leopard Man of Skye |occupation = Soldier |known_for = Formerly being considered by Guinness World Records "The World's Most Tattooed Man" and "The World's Most Tattooed Male Senior" |website = |footnotes = }} '''Tom Wooldridge''', better known as '''Tom Leppard''' and also as '''Leopard Man''' or the '''Leopard Man of Skye''', (14 October 1935{{snd}}12 June 2016) was an Englishman<ref name="guardian">Interview with Neil Stephen {{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/oct/28/scotland|title=The cat who came in from the cold|date=28 October 2008|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=17 December 2016|archive-date=16 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240816040149/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/oct/28/scotland|url-status=live}}</ref> who was noted for previously being considered by ''Guinness World Records'' to be the world's most tattooed man<ref>{{Cite web|last = Guinness World Records|title = Most Tattooed Person |url = http://www.guinessworldrecords.com/records/human_body/body_beautiful/most_tattooed_person.aspx|access-date=2007-08-21 |url-status=usurped |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071023142456/http://www.guinessworldrecords.com/records/human_body/body_beautiful/most_tattooed_person.aspx |archive-date = 2007-10-23|quote=Lucky Diamond Rich is now acknowledged as the world's most tattooed person}}</ref>{{Verify source|date=August 2024|reason=The source no longer says that. Can we verify it ever did?}} and later recognized as the most tattooed senior citizen.<ref name="GWR">{{Cite web|url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/most-tattooed-senior-citizen-(male)|title=Most tattooed senior citizen. (male)|website=Guinness World Records|access-date=2016-03-11|archive-date=2024-08-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240816040207/https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/most-tattooed-senior-citizen-(male)|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Verify source|date=August 2024|reason=The source no longer says that. Can we verify it ever did?}}
He is said to have spent £5,500 on his extensive body modifications, which covered his skin nearly entirely with a leopard-like colored pattern. He stated he did not feel any affiliation with leopards, and selected spots solely because they were easy for tattoo artists to do on a grand scale. Leppard was a Roman Catholic.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2016/06/17/tom-leppard-tattooed-man--obituary/|title=Tom Leppard, tattooed man – obituary|newspaper=The Telegraph|access-date=2016-12-09}}</ref>
Leppard, a soldier, spent 28 years in the armed forces, including stints with the Royal Navy and then as a color sergeant in the Rhodesian Special Forces.<ref name=herald>{{cite news|url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14556691.The_leopard_man_of_Skye_dies_in_a_care_home/ |title=The Leopard Man of Skye Dies|newspaper=Herald Scotland|access-date=14 June 2016}}</ref> He moved from London to a small derelict bothy (hut) without amenities on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, where he lived for the next 20 years as a hermit until 2008.<ref name=telegraph>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/3265474/Tattooed-Leopard-Man-leaves-hermit-lifestyle-behind.html |title=Tattooed Leopard Man leaves hermit lifestyle behind |newspaper=Daily Telegraph |access-date=14 June 2016 |archive-date=7 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160807200410/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/3265474/Tattooed-Leopard-Man-leaves-hermit-lifestyle-behind.html |url-status=live }}</ref> He would travel by kayak to the mainland to buy supplies and pick up his pension and groceries once a week. He then moved to a larger house in Broadford, Skye, followed by sheltered accommodation in a retirement home on the outskirts of the city of Inverness.
==Record successors== Leppard was surpassed by Guinness as the Most Tattooed Man by New Zealander Lucky Diamond Rich. He had also had been given another distinction having been named the {{em|Most Tattooed Male Senior Citizen}}.
He died aged 80, on 12 June 2016.<ref name="herald" />
After his death, his title of "The World's Most Tattooed Male Senior" was given on December 9, 2016, to American man Charles "Chuck" Helmke (died March 12, 2023), of Melbourne, Florida whose body was 97.5% covered in tattoos, Helmke also attained another Guinness World Records for the most tattooed skulls on a male.<ref name="GWR"/> Additionally, his wife Charlotte holds the title for "Most Tattooed Female Senior"; her body is 98.75% covered in inkings. She also hold the title for most feathers tattooed on the body by a female. Between the couple, they were said to have undergone 2,000 hours being tattooed.<ref name="GRWN">{{cite web|url=https://guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2023/3/worlds-most-tattooed-senior-man-chuck-helmke-dies-at-age-81-742034|title=World's most tattooed senior man Chuck Helmke dies at 81|access-date=2024-08-15|archive-date=2024-05-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240529011408/https://guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2023/3/worlds-most-tattooed-senior-man-chuck-helmke-dies-at-age-81-742034|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Notes== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leppard, Tom}} Category:1935 births Category:2016 deaths Category:People from Woodbridge, Suffolk Category:People known for being heavily tattooed Category:Place of birth missing Category:Rhodesian Army personnel by regiment Category:English Roman Catholics