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Bowie General > Images Vol. 44

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homebrewPosted at 2025-10-18 14:00:26(4 hrs ago) (Bowie General / Images Vol. 44)


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These articles appear just as they were posted in the Usenet group alt.fan.david-bowie by group member Jamie Soule aka AladINSAnE. I have made no attempt to alter the formatting, spelling, grammar or edit in any way

IMAGES: Part 44


Bowie would embrace the role of The Elephant Man with a tremendous
amount of enthusiasm. Bowie immediately flew to London to begin his
"research" on the character he was to portray. His destination was
London Hospital, where John Merrick lived out the last days of his life.
In case you are unfamiliar with this story, I will fill you in very
briefly. The Elephant Man is a true story, based on the life of John
Merrick. Merrick was afflicted with an incurable disease called
neurofibromatosis, which caused massive deformities to his muscles and
skeletal frame. To give you an idea, the measurement around his head was
36 inches,  and had a  large build up of skin at the back. His tongue
was large and thick making talking extremely difficult. His right hand
was twelve inches around the wrist, and five inches around one of his
fingers, while the other hand and arm was no larger than that of a ten
year old child. The deformities to his face caused by the affliction
were so severe that it is not possible for me to adequately describe
them. If you are interested  in learning more you can find photographs
on the Internet, and I have several sites that you can try if you email
me. His skin tone was "elephant" gray,  and  instead of being smooth, it
was actually lumpy in texture, especially on his legs and feet.  On his
chest and back however, his skin hung in loose folds. Merrick was forced
to walk with the aid of a cane, as he had no hips, so to speak of. It
was his head though, which caused the most difficulty for him. The
reason for this is that because of its size, it was so heavy that he had
a great deal of difficulty holding it up. This forced him to sleep while
sitting, or crouching,  with his head resting on his knees for support.
Laying down flat on a bed would cause a sensation similar to
suffocation. He worked for a period of his life as  a sideshow
attraction, before being befriended by a doctor at London Hospital, who
arranged  for him to become a permanent resident. He lived there until
his death on April 11, 1890. He died as a result of his head falling
backward as he slept, and the weight dislocated his neck.

In order to better understand John Merrick, David went to visit the
hospital where he lived, so he could study the few artifacts that are on
exhibit. Among them was a hat which Merrick wore in public. The hat had
a piece of cloth sewn on to the front which covered his face, and two
holes were cut in it in order for him to see. What I find truly
remarkable is the fact that Bowie would be required to  play the
character of John Merrick WITHOUT THE AID OF ANY MAKE UP or SPECIAL
EFFECTS, in other words, he would NOT LOOK PHYSICALLY DEFORMED to the
audience. Bowie would have only his own body, and his expressions, in
order to make  his character believable. Bowie would not look physically
deformed on-stage  at all, yet he had to convince the audience he was,
without any visual aids.  This is not easy, especially for an
"untrained" actor, who is replacing one who won AWARDS for his
abilities. He would be "judged, " and judged by critics who would make a
comparison between him, and his predecessor.  There are very few who
would face a challenge this difficult. He was in London, at the
hospital, asking a lot of questions, which were answered by the
assistant curator of the exhibit, a man by the name of P.G. Nunn. He
wanted to know how Merrick walked, how he spoke, and other
characteristics about him that were noticeable. Bowie would use this
information in order to build his own John Merrick. He spent three hours
there, looking at the items on display, and asking his questions. Coco
was with him.. John Merrick built a model of a church that he could see
part of from his window in the hospital. The model is portrayed as good
enough to be the work of a professional sculptor, it is that intricate.
The fact that Merrick had the ability to do this was amazing, and this
is what was portrayed in the movie version of The Elephant Man.  As we
all know, there is Hollywood, and there is real life. The movie was not
very accurate when it came to the model church according to Bowie. He
said after he visited the exhibit that, "The real letdown was seeing the
bloody church he built. The real thing he made was a penny plain and
tuppence coloured thing that the nurses actually cut out for him, all he
did was bend it up, and stick it down. I was really disappointed that it
wasn't  a little wooden structure that he had patiently and tenderly
carved by hand." Bowie went back to New York. It was time to meet the
others who he would be working with. After they met him, they had some
serious doubts about his motivations, and his ability. They believed
Hofsiss had made a bad decision.

New York. Rehearsals. Bowie had a certain approach to his work, and to
the character he would play. "I know if I'm not successful within the
first fifteen or twenty minutes, then they'll get up and leave, because
it's not the kind of part you can fuck with frankly. You've got to be
credible. You've got to be a believable Merrick, or it all falls to
pieces," he said. This type of work ethic is rare, but one Bowie has
adhered to for most of his life. Bowie gained the confidence of the
others in the theater company with this work ethic, as well as his
behavior. Unlike many other celebrities Bowie was not demanding, or want
things his OWN way. Instead he behaved as someone who had to earn the
respect of the others, and someone who NEEDED  their help and support.
There was no "rock star ego," and the few times he was late for
rehearsal, he apologized to EVERY person in the cast, INDIVIDUALLY. I
have always admired, and openly praised David Bowie for maintaining his
standards, which are far superior to most artists, save a very few. This
is one reason I get so critical of him at times, because after 1983 he
tends at times to lower them. I have very high standards when it comes
to the arts, especially music, and guess what? I got them from Bowie.

The character Bowie would play was physically very demanding. He would
have to portray Merricks condition using only his body, which required
him to twist his arms and legs into some extremely demanding, and
uncomfortable positions, to portray the deformities. He would have to
not only do this, but also stay partially bent over for a full two hours
at a time. This is one place where Bowie could incorporate the mime
training he received under the direction of Lindsay Kemp.  Even so,
Bowie had to do special exercises in order to relieve the stress on his
body.  Bowie commented on the physical aspects of his character this
way, " It makes one suddenly aware of how one's body and one's facial
expressions function. It's.....you do feel you're being scrutinized, to
an unbearable extent. It's not that pleasurable actually. But I think
that was the first thing I had to fight. After we'd finished rehearsals
and opened in Denver, I was furious with myself on the first night that
the thing  that was preoccupying me .during the performance was how
people were adjusting, or relating, to my body movements, and that I
hadn't been considering the character at all. It took a good week to
shake that feeling off and become interested and involved on-stage with
Merrick." It is very easy to see how this would be the case. Since his
body movements were the only way to convince the audience that the
character was radically deformed, and to make the character believable
he had to focus a great deal on his physical movements,  being in this
situation would easily detract from everything else. In addition to the
physical aspects of his role, Bowie talked about the physical demands
that it placed on him. He said, "I went back into mime training during
rehearsal and I had to use the pre-imposed exercises before and after
performances to get myself into, and out, of it. One's spine can be
damaged very badly. I had one night of excruciating pain when I didn't
do the exercises. I've been to a chiropractor every now and then just to
check I'm not putting my spine out of place. It's quite possible to do
that, especially if you sit down in that position. You hear a click, and
you think, that's it. That was also quite frightening for the first
week, but you learn just how much pressure to use, and when to lay back
a bit."

One thing that Jack Hofsiss, the play's director, was adamant about, was
that Bowie develop the character based on HIS OWN interpretation of John
Merrick, and not try to copy the one created by Philip Anglim,  the
actor who he was replacing.  Hofsiss would not allow Bowie to have the
benefit of sitting in the audience to watch performances, and learn from
them. Instead, he allowed Bowie to attend one performance only, and no
more after. He was on his own. Bowie attended Anglim's final performance
in San Francisco, along with May Pang, John Lennon's former girlfriend.
Bowie recited his lines as they watched. Now, his voice was another
matter, as he had to alter it drastically. Merrick could not speak
properly, due to his oversize tongue, and the shape of his mouth. In
addition to the deformity of his tongue, Merrick had a thick "trunk"
like upper jaw, and a mishapen mouth which built up with saliva, making
speaking difficult, and his voice unique. Bowie realized  the importance
of his voice, and what it could do to make his character more authentic.
Now, Bowie spoke using a shrill tone to make his voice reflect the
character. He also went as far as to spend hours  listening to tape
recordings of people who had cerebral palsy, in order to be able to
mimic their speech patterns. David appeared on television prior to
rehearsals, on The Johnny Carson Show, and 20/20. The interview was done
in an art gallery in Soho, and  Bowie had  some of his paintings shipped
over from Germany and hung on the walls. The message was clear, "DAVID
BOWIE - PAINTER - MUSICIAN- SCULPTER-ACTOR.  BOWIE ON BROADWAY, he was
an ACTOR, A REAL ACTOR. "What was it like to be a homosexual and a
father?" Did you hear me? Yes, that was one of the questions they asked
him. Now, anyone care to ask me what I think of these media
personalities, and critics, who profess to be experts on music, and then
ask questions like this. If it were me, I would ask Bowie something
stupid, instead of an intelligent question like that. I might of ask him
about his work as an actor, since he was going to be in a play, or maybe
what he learned from the artists that he has chosen to work with him, or
maybe what The Bewlay Brothers is about, and the inspiration behind it.
I'd like to interview the host of 20/20. I would ask him why he is
calling Bowie a homosexual when he isn't one? Then ask him why he
interviews people and discusses topics he doesn't know anything about?
Then I would ask him what it's like to be a moron, and embarrass
yourself in front of millions of people on television, as well as to be
a father, who calls other fathers homosexuals? Cool questions now,
aren't they.

Bowie made his stage debut on July 29, 1980, one day previous to the
date announced to the press. This was done to keep the media controlled,
and allow David to have one performance in order to get comfortable
first , rather than having  him subjected to the opening night jitters,
and the media scrutiny as well. Every ticket was sold at the Denver
Center For The Performing Arts.  In thirty eight years, not one other
string of  performances were more successful than The Elephant Man. All
of those who doubted Bowie's ability to make it as a "real" actor, were
silenced by Bowie, in ONE night. " He brought magic and music to the
play, powerful, and "perfect," were some of the words used in the
reviews that were out by the next morning. They were all spectacular,
and they saved their most praise when talking about the performance
delivered by Bowie. Considering the effort that he put into his role,
coupled with his work ethic, he deserved it.

Bowie is on the road.

ALADINsaNE

I will be wasting more time on this useless series again I'm sure, some
day

Addendum:


In my last installment of Images, there was some information about The
Elephant Man that I knew, but I did not think it was necessary to
include it in my article. I now see that this was an error on my part,
as it has sparked a discussion. It is for this reason that I want to
clarify the correct name of The Elephant Man.
Joseph Censored Merrick

The Elephant Man's name at birth was Joseph Censored Merrick, and so that
is actually his correct name. However, his doctor, Frederick Treves,
addressed him as John Merrick, and referred to him as John Merrick in
all of his writing. Therefore, since the Elephant Man is most commonly
known as John Merrick, I used that name in my article.

I apologize for the confusion.

AladINsane


""I don't begrudge any artist for finding an audience"
- David Bowie abt. 1987
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