# Michael Jackson and the Elephant Man **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 2, 2005, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-and-the-elephant-man/287999 "2005-02-02T16:35:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kel_Varnsen_Latex_Division)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-and-the-elephant-man/287999/1 "2005-02-02T16:35:44Z")
Did Jackson really buy the remains of the Elephant Man? ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-and-the-elephant-man/287999/2 "2005-02-02T17:11:02Z")
Well, I found this quite: > [@](#): > > believe that the remains of Merrick are held in one of London’s museums, and that at one time Michael Jackson was interested in buying them But that’s just some random movie reviewer at [this site.](http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/vhs-title-e/elephant-man-the/157212/) ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-and-the-elephant-man/287999/3 "2005-02-02T17:12:46Z")
Oh, I forgoet something: Interesting fact: the elephant man did not have elephantitis, the disease for which he was named. Five bonus points to whoever knows what disease he really had! ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-and-the-elephant-man/287999/4 "2005-02-02T17:21:30Z")
The skeleton of John Merrick, “The Elephant Man”, is owned by the Royal London Hospital. Michael Jackson reportedly tried to buy it in 1987 for $1 million, but was told that it was not for sale to him or anyone else. [This article](http://www.parascope.com/articles/0397/elephant.htm) says that Merrick may have suffered from Proteus Syndrome, rather than neurofibromatosis, as previously believed. ---
**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-and-the-elephant-man/287999/5 "2005-02-02T17:26:09Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Oh, I forgoet something: > > Interesting fact: the elephant man did not have elephantitis, the disease for which he was named. Five bonus points to whoever knows what disease he really had! I see **Walloon** beat me to _Proteus Syndrome_, but there’s one other thing I was wondering about. I’ve always been under the impression that he was known as the _Elephant_ Man because his deformities were the result of his mother (pregnant with him) being trampled by an elephant. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen it, but I think this is the way the movie portrayed it (of course, that’s just the movie, and not necessarily the true story). Any truth to this story? ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-and-the-elephant-man/287999/6 "2005-02-02T17:27:02Z")
ooh those crazy elephant bones… ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-and-the-elephant-man/287999/7 "2005-02-02T17:27:55Z")
The “mother scared by an elephant” story was one of the lines used by the carnival promoters who put him on exhibit. There is no truth to it. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-and-the-elephant-man/287999/8 "2005-02-02T17:29:20Z")
Spider Robinson once had a character describing a man with three testicles, whose “mother was scared by a pawnshop sign”. That story has a similar level of veracity… ---
**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-and-the-elephant-man/287999/9 "2005-02-02T17:29:22Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > The “mother scared by an elephant” story was one of the lines used by the carnival promoters who put him on exhibit. There is no truth to it. Thanks, **BrotherCadfael**! ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-and-the-elephant-man/287999/10 "2005-02-02T17:32:12Z")
Pregnancy folklore in old times was full of cause and effect stories like that. ---
**Author:** ![Phedre\_no\_Delaunay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/839c29/32.png) [@Phedre\_no\_Delaunay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phedre_no_Delaunay)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-and-the-elephant-man/287999/11 "2005-02-02T19:59:50Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Interesting fact: the elephant man did not have elephantitis I think you mean [Elephantiasis](http://www2.niaid.nih.gov/newsroom/focuson/bugborne01/filar.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Phedre\_no\_Delaunay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/839c29/32.png) [@Phedre\_no\_Delaunay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phedre_no_Delaunay)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-and-the-elephant-man/287999/12 "2005-02-02T20:02:11Z")
I just realized that my previous post might sound like I was suggesting that the Elephant Man had elephantiasis. I am not suggesting that, just correcting “elephantitis.” ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-and-the-elephant-man/287999/13 "2005-02-02T21:40:39Z")
> [@Phèdre nó Delaunay](#): > > I think you mean [Elephantiasis](http://www2.niaid.nih.gov/newsroom/focuson/bugborne01/filar.htm) True, but the long-time misdiagnosis was neurofibromatosis, not elephantiasis. ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-and-the-elephant-man/287999/14 "2005-02-03T06:03:05Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Spider Robinson once had a character describing a man with three testicles, whose “mother was scared by a pawnshop sign”. That story has a similar level of veracity… I knew a guy in high school with three balls. We called him **E.T.** … :smack: [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-and-the-elephant-man/287999/15 "2005-02-03T13:13:00Z")
Btw, John (really JOSEPH) Merrick was not deformed from birth & abandoned by his parents, but developed his condition gradually, was close to his mother (I think till her death), and finally given by his father to the care of the sideshow when he could no longer care for him. ---
**Author:** ![Tenar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-and-the-elephant-man/287999/16 "2005-02-04T00:51:37Z")
Just in passing: this isn’t meant to be a cry of outrage over insensitivity or anything, as I realize that the use of the word “elephantiasis” relates directly to the subject of the thread, but the currently accepted term for “elephantiasis” is l **ymphedema**. Sorry to be a crybaby about the whole thing, but I’ve got a bad case of it, and since I am well aware that it makes me look (quite literally) like a freak, being compared to as a circus animal doesn’t make my already abysmal self esteem exactly bubble up with joy. Again, this is just for informational purposes, should you ever encounter someone with this condition in real life. We now return you to your our regularly scheduled program… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Gfab912](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a9a28c/32.png) [@Gfab912](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfab912)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-and-the-elephant-man/287999/17 "2005-02-04T01:29:15Z")
> [@Tenar](#): > > Just in passing: this isn’t meant to be a cry of outrage over insensitivity or anything, as I realize that the use of the word “elephantiasis” relates directly to the subject of the thread, but the currently accepted term for “elephantiasis” is l **ymphedema**. > > Sorry to be a crybaby about the whole thing, but I’ve got a bad case of it, and since I am well aware that it makes me look (quite literally) like a freak, being compared to as a circus animal doesn’t make my already abysmal self esteem exactly bubble up with joy. > > Again, this is just for informational purposes, should you ever encounter someone with this condition in real life. > > We now return you to your our regularly scheduled program… 🙂 This has to be the saddest response I’ve read here. If true, my condolences. As far as the thread title, MJ knew he wasn’t going to be able to own the bones but it did exactly what it was supposed to do… keep his name in the public’s ear! He knows how to “sell” himself and his image very well. I won’t comment on his current situation because I have no opinion on that, but I would say from his holdings, he’s a shrewed businessman. ---
**Author:** ![Martiju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@Martiju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martiju)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-and-the-elephant-man/287999/18 "2005-02-04T14:24:19Z")
> [@Tenar](#): > > Just in passing: this isn’t meant to be a cry of outrage over insensitivity or anything, as I realize that the use of the word “elephantiasis” relates directly to the subject of the thread, but the currently accepted term for “elephantiasis” is l **ymphedema**. > > Sorry to be a crybaby about the whole thing, but I’ve got a bad case of it, and since I am well aware that it makes me look (quite literally) like a freak, being compared to as a circus animal doesn’t make my already abysmal self esteem exactly bubble up with joy. > > Again, this is just for informational purposes, should you ever encounter someone with this condition in real life. > > We now return you to your our regularly scheduled program… 🙂 Tenar Very well put, may I say. I know it wasn’t your intention, but this really does show what a diverse crowd of people we have here. No matter what the subject matter, there is an expert among us (even if, as in this case, an involuntary one). Best wishes to you though Tenar.