Joseph Merrick inspired the play The Elephant Man.
Joseph Merrick . Meanwhile , in 1979 , Bernard Pomerance 's play about Merrick called The Elephant Man debuted , and David Lynch 's film , also called The Elephant Man , was released in 1980 . In late 2014 and early 2015 , Bradley Cooper starred in a Broadway revival of The Elephant Man , directed by Scott Ellis .