In Search Of... The Elephant Man - Part 1 of 3

In Search Of... The Elephant Man, Episode #125, Season 6, hosted by Leonard Nimoy. Part 1 of 3. Joseph Merrick was called the Elephant Man because of the abnormal masses of flesh which began growing on his face and body when he was a child. (Merrick was first presumed to have elephantiasis and later neurofibramatosis, but more recent studies have suggested that Merrick suffered from a still rarer affliction called Proteus Syndrome.) Treated as a freak for much of his life, Merrick eventually found work as a sideshow attraction. He was later befriended by surgeon Frederick Treves and ended his days as a permanent resident of London's Whitechapel Hospital, where he died at age 27.