 "I am not an animal!" Given his ever-deepening fascination with the wonderful world of plastic surgery, it seems apparent that the King of Pop has an unhealthy obsession with the grotesque. While rumors that Jackson's reconstructed nose fell off during a performance are fairly recent, his deep insecurity about his appearance goes way back: The epic video "Thriller," for instance, featured Jackson transformed into a werewolf and a zombie. In 1987, reports surfaced that the R&B superstar had offered $50,000 for the remains of the deformed Victorian-era medical patient Joseph Merrick, immortalized (as John Merrick) in David Lynch's 1980 film The Elephant Man. Whether or not such an offer was made, Jackson does not own the bones. Organs from the real Elephant Man were kept in jars at the London Hospital until World War II, when they were destroyed in a German air raid. Casts of his head, an arm and a foot survive -- but you won't see them at Neverland.
JAMES SULLIVAN
(Posted Oct. 12, 2004)
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