Elephant Man

orig. Joseph (Carey) Merrick

born Aug. 5, 1862, Leicester, Leicestershire, Eng.

died April 11, 1890, London

Englishman disfigured by a disease that caused growths over his skin and bone surfaces.

His head was 3 ft (.9 m) around, with large bags of skin hanging from it, the jaw so deformed he could not speak clearly. One arm ended in a 12-in. (.3-m) wrist and a finlike hand. His legs were similarly deformed, and a defective hip made him lame. He escaped from a workhouse at 21 to join a freak show, where a London physician, Frederick Treves, discovered him and admitted him to London Hospital. He died in his sleep at 27 of accidental suffocation. His disease was probably the very rare Proteus syndrome. A successful play and film were based on Merrick's life.

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▪ British medical patient

byname of  Joseph Carey Merrick  

born August 5, 1862, Leicester, Leicestershire, England

died April 11, 1890, London

 disfigured man who, after a brief career as a professional “freak,” became a patient of London Hospital from 1886 until his death.

      Merrick was apparently normal until about the age of five, when he began showing signs of a strange disorder that caused abnormal growths of much of his skin and bone. The size of his head increased to 3 feet (almost 1 metre) in circumference, with spongy skin hanging from the back of his head and across his face; deformation of the jaws rendered him incapable of showing facial expression or speaking clearly. Although his left arm was normal, his right arm ended in a wrist that was 12 inches (30 cm) in circumference and a finlike hand. His legs were deformed in the same manner as his arm, and a defective hip caused such lameness that Merrick could walk only with the aid of a stick. The disorder from which Merrick suffered was long thought to be an extremely severe case of neurofibromatosis, but his deformities were probably the result of an extremely rare disease known as Proteus syndrome.

      Merrick was confined to a workhouse at age 17, then escaped four years later to join a freak show (1883). While on exhibition, he was discovered by a London physician, Frederick Treves, and admitted to London Hospital (1886). He remained there until, at age 27, he died in his sleep of accidental suffocation.

      A play about Merrick, The Elephant Man, by Bernard Pomerance, appeared in 1979; an unrelated motion picture based on Merrick's life was released in 1980.

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