Trivia: Mel Brooks was Executive Producer but was uncredited so people wouldn't think the movie was a comedy.
Trivia: The "Best Make-Up" Academy Award was created after the outcry that this film didn't receive an award for make-up (which was a special award at the time).
Trivia: Director David Lynch has a cameo as a member of the angry mob who chases John Merrick when he returns to London.
Trivia: The Elephant Man make up took seven hours to apply each time.
Trivia: The actor playing Alderman is actually named Frederick Treves, though he is not the same as the Treves who wrote the book.
Trivia: Anthony Hopkins once reportedly tried to get David Lynch fired, as he felt Lynch didn't understand how to work on a film with the scale and budget of "The Elephant Man," and wasn't professional enough on set, due to his only prior experience being on indie films. Producer Mel Brooks stood up for Lynch and kept him on the project. Regardless of tensions on-set, the film ended up becoming a massive hit and was nominated for numerous awards, including receiving 8 Academy Award nominations.
Trivia: The only David Lynch project that Jack Nance did not participate in before his death in 1996. (While Nance did not appear in the theatrical cut of "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me," he did film scenes that were deleted for pacing, but later released on home video.)
Trivia: When David Lynch was about to be hired to direct the film, he was informed that Mel Brooks was watching his first film, "Eraserhead," to get an idea of his style. Lynch immediately was crestfallen, as he was sure he'd lose the job when Brooks saw how dark and bizarre that film was. To the contrary, Brooks burst into the room the instant "Eraserhead" was finished, shook Lynch's hand and told him that he loved it and that he was excited for Lynch to direct "The Elephant Man."
Trivia: While on the set for Michael Cimino's "Heaven's Gate", Hurt was so bored on set because of Cimino's attention to detail and slow film making that he went back to Britain, made The Elephant Man, and came back to shoot scenes for Heaven's Gate. For The Elephant Man, he won a BAFTA and was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe; Heaven's Gate, meanwhile, is considered by some to be one of the worst films ever made.
Trivia: In the credits, "Alderman" is played by Frederick Treves, who was the great-nephew of the doctor Frederick Treves who looked after Joseph Merrick (John in the film), The Elephant Man.
