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: 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.
