Joseph Merrick
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Joseph Carey Merrick (5 August, 1862–11 April, 1890), known as "The Elephant Man", gained the sympathy of Victorian era Britain because of the extreme deformity of his body. Due to a mistake in George Treves' book on him, he is sometimes known as John Merrick. In 1980, the David Lynch-directed film The Elephant Man was released.
In popular culture
Following the publication of Montagu's book, Merrick returned to popular attention around 1980 when two high-profile productions made him their subject. His life story became the basis of the 1979 Tony Award-winning play The Elephant Man, in which he is initially played by Philip Anglim, followed by David Bowie). In the following year, the David Lynch-directed film The Elephant Man was released, in which he was played by John Hurt. Each production took a different approach to the story. In 1982, the play was broadcast as a television movie.
In the mid-1980s, it was widely reported that singer Michael Jackson wanted to purchase the Elephant Man's bones. Jackson denied this. In 1993, during an interview at his Neverland Ranch, Michael Jackson told Oprah Winfrey that it was, "another stupid story. I love the story of the Elephant Man, he reminds me of me a lot, and I could relate to it, it made me cry because I saw myself in the story, but no I never asked for the... where am I going to put some bones? And why would I want some bones?" In a 1989 music video for the song "Leave Me Alone" (from Moonwalker), Jackson could be seen dancing alongside a claymation version of Merrick's bones. This was a piece of sarcastic humor, as other parts of the video dealt with how Jackson was unfairly portrayed by the media.
Merrick has been mentioned many times by Karl Pilkington in the Ricky Gervais show podcasts and the XFM shows. Pilkington talks about his fascination with Merrick and how the film is his favorite of all time. Pilkington wonders why Merrick does not appear in the book Top 50 Freaks of All Time, which he carries around with him wherever he goes.
Merrick has been mentioned in song by a number of artists, including Barenaked Ladies (in the song "If I Had $1000000"), Suede (in the song "Elephant Man"), Mastodon (in the songs "Elephant Man", "Joseph Merrick" and "Pendulous Skin"), The Dandys (in the B-side "Elephant Man"), Bigbang (in the song "The Elephant Man"), Fall of Troy (in the song "Wacko Jacko Steals the Elephant Man's Bones"), The Bloodhound Gang (in the song "Why's Everbody Always Pickin' on Me?"), Buckethead (in "The John Merrick Elephant Man Bones Explosion", The Murder City Devils,"Bride of the Elephant Man", and "The Elephant Man's Alarm Clock"), Immortal Technique (In the song Freedom of Speech) and Webb Wilder (in "The Olde Elephant Man").
The Elephant Man is a supporting character in Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's graphic novel From Hell, and also appears very briefly in the film based on the book, albeit in an entirely different context.
