Remembering Hatton’s Hollywood horrors
Throughout history, those with marked physiological differences from
the norm have suffered discrimination by the majority. I suppose we should
regard it as progress of a kind that persecution has given way to exploitation.
Undoubtedly, the best known example of this is the disfigured Joseph
Merrick, who enjoyed fame (if either “enjoyed” or “fame” could
be said to apply) as the Elephant Man in an East End freak show in the
1880s, before being introduced to an altogether better class of punter
by the physician Sir Frederick Treves.
 There
was another sufferer of physical deformity, however, whose audiences
were far more numerous than Merrick’s.
Indeed, they may well have surpassed those of all his predecessors put
together.
His name was Rondo
Hatton and he was Hollywood’s first — and, as far as I know,
only — acromegalic star.
Acromegaly arises from hypersecretion of growth hormone from the anterior
pituitary — a condition that is usually, although not exclusively,
caused by the presence of a tumour. If it occurs in infancy, the result
is not acromegaly but gigantism.
The child develops normally but reaches
up to eight feet in height. In adulthood, however, the epiphyseal discs
of the skeleton are sealed and growth is only possible in certain areas — principally
the hands, feet and face, and particularly the lower jaw.
The condition can take decades to develop fully. The first signs are
as innocuous as coarse skin and greasy hair. This is why it is often
misdiagnosed or is overlooked during the stages at which it is still
treatable with somatostatin.
Hatton’s case was unusual in two ways. First, the development of
the condition was almost certainly a consequence of being gassed in the
trenches as an American volunteer in the 1914–18 war. Secondly,
it developed rapidly, and was already pronounced by the time he left
hospital after treatment for the gassing.
Hatton returned home to his native Florida, his boyhood dream of becoming
a football coach in ruins. Instead, he became a journalist. More than
a decade later, in 1929, he was sent to write a report on a Hollywood
film, ‘Hell Harbor’, which was being shot on location in
Florida. He caught the eye of the director, Henry King, who offered him
a small part, thinking it would help his story. Hatton accepted and,
when the filming was over, King asked if he would consider moving to
Hollywood.
Hatton turned King down flat, but seven years later he suffered a severe
attack of arthritis, which had two far-reaching results. The first was
that it put paid to his journalistic career. The second was that his
doctors recommended he relocate to a drier climate. So he decided to
see if King’s offer still stood.
Seven years playing thuggish bit parts followed before Hatton landed
his first major role — as the “Hoxton Creeper” in the
1944 film, ‘The pearl of death’, in which he starred opposite
Basil Rathbone in the sixth in a long series of melodramas loosely based
on the works of Arthur Conan Doyle. He was to reprise the role twice
(dropping the “Hoxton”) in ‘House of horrors’ and ‘The
brute man’. The titles of these films may tell you all you need
to know about them.
Hatton’s death preceded the release of both these latter movies.
Shortly after completing ‘The brute man’ he fell ill with
myocarditis, another complication of his condition. He was confined to
his home for the last few months of his life, succumbing to a heart attack
on 2 February 1946, aged 51.
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