During his time with the tribe, Erik becomes a great illusionist, magician, and ventriloquist. his birthplace is given as a small town outside of Rouen, France.īorn hideously deformed, he is a 'subject of horror' for his family and as a result, he runs away as a young boy and falls in with a band of Gypsies, making his living as an attraction in freak shows, where he is known as 'Le Mort Vivant' ('The Living Dead'). Most of the character's history is revealed by a mysterious figure, known through most of the novel as The Persian or the Daroga, who had been a local police chief in Persia, following Erik to Paris other details are discussed in the novel's epilogue, e.g. Leroux sometimes calls him 'the man's voice' Erik also refers to himself as 'The Opera Ghost', 'The Angel of Music', and attends a masquerade as the Red Death. It is also revealed that 'Erik' was not actually his birth name, but one that was given or found 'by accident', as Erik himself says within the work. Erik himself laments the fact that his mother was horrified by his appearance and that his father, a master mason, never saw him. In the original novel, few details are given regarding Erik's past, although there is no shortage of hints and implications throughout the book. He was portrayed by the late Lon Chaney in the 1925 film, the late Claude Rains in the 1943 film, the late Herbert Lom in the 1962 film, the late William Finley in the 1974 film, Robert Englund in the 1989 film, Julian Sands in the 1998 film, and Gerard Butler in the 2004 film. In the sequel of the 1986 musical adaptation, Love Never Dies, the Phantom also has a son with Christine named Gustave. He falls in love with Christine Daaé, a young singer whom is he is determined to teach and gain her acceptance and love. He is the titular protagonist of the story, and its musical adaptations of the same name.Įrik is an extremely intelligent and talented musician who lives hidden at an Opera House in Paris because of his deformity. I heard you don't believe in ghosts! (Scarecrow: Ghosts?!) As in The Phantom of the Opera!Įrik (born November 18, 1880), known as The Phantom of the Opera, is the titular character that is derived from the 1910 novel written by the late Gaston Leroux, entitled Le Fantôme de l'Opéra ( The Phantom of the Opera). Can you bear to look or even think of me?

Time of phantom of the opera book