The film "The Man Without A Face" is about actor Mel Gibson-Fiction!

The Movie "The Man Without A Face" is Based on the Life of Mel Gibson-Fiction!

Summary of eRumor
This email provides a narrative of a handsome young aspiring actor whose parents moved from the United States to Australia when he was young. He was attacked by thugs one night and left for dead, his face gruesomely disfigured by kicks and blows with clubs. His life became a misery of unemployment until someone suggested he become part of a circus freak show as "The Man Who Had No Face." He turned to God and was befriended by a priest who made connections for the best of surgeons...and the young man was given a life again and even became a famous actor...Mel Gibson. The email closes by saying it's a true story from radio commentator Paul Harvey.

The Truth:
This is not from Paul Harvey and is not a true story. There is a bit of weaving of Mel Gibson's story and the book THE MAN WITHOUT A FACE, however. According to his biography, Mel Gibson was born in the United States, but raised in Australia from the age of 12. He got into acting as a teenager and did once get into a fight that left him with swollen wounds and stitches to his face. It was nothing like the severity of what is described in THE MAN WITHOUT A FACE, however, a book which later became a movie that Mel Gibson directed. In the movie, the disfigurement of the main character is the result of an automobile accident and fire, not a beating.

A real example of the story as it has been circulated:

Years ago a hard working man took his family from New York State to Australia to take advantage of a work opportunity there. Part of this man's family was a handsome young son who had aspirations of joining the circus as a trapeze artist or an actor.

This young fellow, biding his time, until a circus job or even a job as a stagehand came along, continued to work at the local shipyards which bordered on the worse section of town.

Walking home from work one evening this young man was attacked by five thugs who wanted to rob him. Instead of just giving up his money, the young fellow resisted. However they bested him easily and proceeded to beat him to a pulp. They mashed his face with their boots, and kicked and beat his body brutally with clubs, leaving him for dead.

When the police happened to find him lying in the road, they assumed he was dead and called for the Morgue Wagon.

On the way to the morgue a policeman heard him gasp for air, and they immediately took him to the emergency unit at the hospital. When he was placed on a gurney a nurse remarked to her horror, that this young man no longer had a face. 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.
When he finally left his body may have healed, but his face was disgusting to look at. He was no longer the handsome youth that everyone admired.

When the young man started to look for work again he was turned down by everyone just on account of the way he looked. One potential employer suggested to him that he join the freak show at the circus as The Man Who Had No Face.

And ... he did this for a while. Still he was rejected by everyone and no one wanted to be seen in his company. He had thoughts of suicide.

This went on for five years. One day he passed a church and sought some solace there. Entering the church he encountered a priest who had seen him sobbing while kneeling in a pew. The priest took pity on him and took him to the rectory where they talked at length.

The priest was so impressed with him to such a degree that, he said, that he would do everything possible for him that could be done to restore his dignity and life, if the young man would promise to be the best Catholic he could be, and trust in God's mercy to free him from his torturous life.

The young man went to Mass and communion every day, and after thanking God for saving his life, asked God to only give him peace of mind and the grace to be the best man he could ever be in His eyes. The priest, through his personal contacts was able to secure the services of the best plastic surgeon in Australia.

They would be no cost to the young man, as the doctor was the priest's best friend. The doctor too was so impressed by the young man, whose outlook now on life, even though he had experienced the worse was filled with good humor and love.

The surgery was a miraculous success. All the best dental work was also done for him. The young man became everything he promised God he would be. He was also blessed with a wonderful, beautiful wife, and many children, and success in an industry which would have been the furthest thing from his mind as a career, if not for the goodness of God and the love of the people who cared for him.

This he acknowledges publicly.

This young man is Mel Gibson.

True story by Paul Harvey.