Joseph Merrick | Biography (2024)

Joseph Merrick (born August 5, 1862, Leicester, Leicestershire, England—died April 11, 1890, London) was a disfigured man who, after a brief career as a professional “freak,” became a patient of London Hospital from 1886 until his death. Displays of the “Elephant Man” were part of the “human curiosities” movement of the 19th century that saw the exploitation of African slave Sarah Baartman and the rise of showman P.T. Barnum and carnival freak shows.

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). A letter that was published in an (unsuccessful) effort to find Merrick a hospital for chronic medical cases drew the attention of London society, which earned him a measure of fame and led to Merrick receiving visits from a number of prominent individuals, including Alexandra, princess of Wales. He remained at London Hospital 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, directed by David Lynch and with John Hurt playing Merrick, was released in 1980.