Bowie: A Biography - JFK247

Gary Numan, who took in a performance while on
tour in New York. “He became this grotesque figure
and I gave him a genuine heartfelt standing ovation
at the end of it.”
Reviewing his performance in the New York
Times, John Corry wrote, “When it was announced
that David Bowie would play the title role in The
Elephant Man, it was not unnatural to think he had
been cast simply for the use of his name.
Fortunately, he is a good deal more than that, and as
John Merrick, the Elephant Man, he is splendid.”
Fans clamored to catch a view of Bowie as he
walked the short trip from his hotel to the theater
every day. Security became an issue. Hofsiss has
stated, “David had to isolate himself to come down
from the performance and avoid the crowds outside
the stage door. A lot of theaters on Forty-fifth and
Forty-sixth streets had connecting passageways, so
David could exit the theater several ways.”
Another fan had come to see the show as well.
Mark David Chapman, in New York with an evil
mission to assassinate John Lennon on December
8, caught Bowie in the show just days before. “The
day after John was shot, I offered to restage the
show so that David could leave the stage
periodically when he wasn’t needed to keep his time
onstage to a minimum,” Hofsiss has said. “He
absolutely refused. We increased the security at the
theater, but he made no demands.”
If anything, Bowie must have felt grateful to have a
few hours of distraction each night. The murder of