Roy L. Dennis
Roy Lee "Rocky" Dennis (December 4, 1961 – October 4, 1978) was an American teenager who had craniodiaphyseal dysplasia, an extremely rare sclerotic bone disorder. The condition usually results in neurological disorders and death during childhood or teenage years. His life was the basis for the 1985 drama film Mask.
"Roy Dennis" redirects here. For the American football player, see Roy Dennis (American football).
Roy L. "Rocky" Dennis
October 4, 1978 (aged 16)[2]
Complications of craniodiaphyseal dysplasia
Rocky Dennis
Florence Tullis
Roy Dennis
Early life and diagnosis[edit]
Rocky Dennis was born in Glendora, California, to Florence "Rusty" Tullis and Roy Dennis in 1961. When he was very young, Dennis frequently had ear and sinus infections. He underwent a tonsillectomy at age two, at which time doctors detected abnormalities in his x-rays. Over the next year, he visited doctors at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)'s medical center multiple times a week, culminating in a diagnosis of craniodiaphyseal dysplasia (CDD), an extremely rare bone disorder that causes bone tissue to build up excessively, including in the skull, causing gradual compression of the brain and thus intracranial hypertension.[1][3][4][5]
Based on the small number of recorded cases — in a 1985 television interview, Rusty said Dennis' doctors told her there were seven recorded cases of CDD[4] — doctors predicted that the pressure from bone accumulation on the central nervous system and cranial nerves would destroy his eyesight and hearing, and eventually affect his brain, anticipating he would die prior to his seventh birthday.[2][5]
In popular culture[edit]
Peter Bogdanovich directed the 1985 film Mask, from Anna Hamilton Phelan's screenplay based on Dennis' life. Eric Stoltz portrayed Dennis. In one scene in the film, Stoltz's Dennis reads a poem to his mother, Rusty (played by Cher), that was written by Dennis. The movie is based loosely on Dennis' life, with most of the scenes and dialogue altered for dramatic purposes.[5][7] Rusty told a Chicago Tribune reporter that the film was mostly accurate but with two major departures from reality — the events occurred over a period of 10-12 years, rather than one year as depicted in the film; and Dennis' older half-brother, Joshua, is never mentioned in the film.[1]
Phelan adapted her screenplay into a stage musical of the same name, with music by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. The musical premiered at the Pasadena Playhouse in California on March 12, 2008.[8]
Swedish pop musician Jens Lekman self-published a song titled "Rocky Dennis' Farewell Song to the Blind Girl", causing DJs to mistakenly call the musician by Rocky Dennis' name.[9] In 2004, Lekman released Rocky Dennis in Heaven, an EP containing "Rocky Dennis' Farewell Song to the Blind Girl" and two other songs about Dennis.[10]