Contrary to emails, Mel is not the 'Man Without A Face'

Posted Thursday, March 11, 2004 at 5:10 PM Central

by Tim Briscoe

An email describing Mel Gibson's near-death experience and childhood disfigurement is circulating through the Internet. It's an inspiring story of faith and determination as Gibson undergoes plastic surgery to restore his good looks after a brutal mugging and thus becomes one of today's greatest film stars.

The only problem is that the story is a complete lie. There are elements of truth sprinkled throughout. The fact that Gibson was born in upstate New York and moved with his parents to Australia is accurate. Mel did get into a rough fight as a youth that resulted in a few stitches to his face, but it was no where near the extent mentioned in this well-trafficked email.

According to the email fable, Gibson fought a group of men who wanted to rob him while walking home one night. Mel got the snot beat out of him, so says the story. "Each eye socket was smashed, his skull, legs, and arms fractured, his nose literally hanging from his face, all is teeth were gone, and his jaw was almost completely torn from his skull. Although his life was spared he spent over year in the hospital," the message states. The complete text of the email, along with the truth, can be found on TruthOrFiction.com.

With the help of a kind priest, the story goes, Gibson received plastic surgery so that he could pursue his dream of becoming an actor. The email story calls Gibson "The Man Without A Face", saying it was a nickname he used while performing in the circus freak show during his period of disfigurement.

Gibson did direct and star in The Man Without A Face about a man with a severely scarred face. (The character in the film, played by Gibson, suffered his wounds from a car accident not a fight.) But the story is definitely not Mel's personal, true story.

The email is apparently some poor fiction writer's way of explaining Gibson's true religious convictions since, in the story, he finds God and the kind priest offers him help in his time of need. Perhaps the spread of the emails is in support of The Passion Of The Christ, another film directed by Gibson.

However, unlike the story of Christ's crucifixion, this story is completely bogus.