<P>--poem used by Joseph Merrick to end his letters, adapted from "False Greatness" by Isaac Watts </P> <P> Between 1979 and 1982, Merrick's life story became the basis of several works of dramatic art; these were based on the accounts of Treves and Montagu . In 1979, a Tony Award--winning play, The Elephant Man, by American playwright Bernard Pomerance was staged . The character based on Merrick was played by Philip Anglim, and later by David Bowie and Mark Hamill . In 1980, a film The Elephant Man, directed by David Lynch, was released; it received eight Academy Award nominations . Merrick was played by John Hurt and Frederick Treves by Anthony Hopkins . In 1982, US television network ABC broadcast an adaptation of Pomerance's play, starring Anglim . </P> <P> Merrick is portrayed in two episodes in 2013 (the second series) of the BBC historical crime drama Ripper Street, portrayed by actor Joseph Drake . In 2017, the Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne commissioned playwright Tom Wright to write a play about Merrick's life . The Real and Imagined History of the Elephant Man premiered on 4 August, and starred Daniel Monks in the title role . The cast also featured Paula Arundell, Julie Forsyth, Emma J Hawkins, and Sophie Ross . </P> <P> In 2002, American heavy metal band Mastodon, on their album Remission, included an instrumental track, "Elephant Man". In 2004, on their album Leviathan, they included a similar instrumental, "Joseph Merrick". Merrick's life is the subject of Joseph Merrick, The Elephant Man, an opera by composer Laurent Petitgirard, set to a French libretto by Eric Nonn . It premiered on 7 February 2002 at the State Opera House, Prague, and starred contralto Jana Sykorova in the title role . </P>

Who played the elephant man in ripper street