Bradley Cooper Takes on "The Elephant Man" From left: Marty Lederhandler/Associated Press; Sara Krulwich/The New York Times; ITV/Rex USA A few attractive Elephant Men, from left: David Bowie, a replacement in the first Broadway run; Billy Crudup, in the most recent Broadway revival; and Philip Anglim, Broadway's original Elephant Man, in the TV film of the play. Like the past stage Merricks, Mr. Cooper, who is best known from the "Hangover" films and who appeared with Julia Roberts on Broadway in a revival of Richard Greenberg's "Three Days of Rain," will perform the role free of any disfiguring makeup, using just his voice and body to convey Merrick's severe deformities. And that's plenty, judging from an author's note in Bernard Pomerance's published script: "No one with any history of back trouble should attempt the part of Merrick as contorted." But when Mr. Cooper - who starred in a 30-minute version of the 1977 play while studying at the Actors Studio - begins performances on Wednesday in a sold-out production at the Williamstown Theater Festival in Massachusetts, he will become just the latest example of memorable Merricks overcoming their genetic advantages. Here are some past Merricks. PHILIP ANGLIM Like most actors who've played the role, Mr. Anglim knew a juicy part when he saw it. But unlike the others, he put his money where his mouth was, optioning the rights to the play himself after seeing David Schofield star in it with the British fringe theater company Foco Novo. Mr. Anglim originated the part on Broadway, and many people associate the hallmarks of the character - the twisted torso, the lurching gait, the quavering speech - with his performance onstage and in the subsequent television adaptation. But Mr. Pomerance said Mr. Schofield set the template. "Philip Anglim was unusually good," he said, "but it goes back to Schofield's work." DAVID BOWIE Until Mr. Cooper came along, the choice of Ziggy Stardust as one of Mr. Anglim's Broadway replacements was probably the most glaring example of unlikely celebrity casting for the part. Mr. Bowie, no stranger to makeup - in concert or in films like "The Hunger" and "Labyrinth" - called the role "undoubtedly the biggest single challenge of my career." MARK HAMILL In a radical attempt to get out from the shadow of Luke Skywalker, Mr. Hamill also took over the role on Broadway for three weeks of performances. Physical deformity seemed to suit him. He has gone on to provide the voice of Batman's archrival the Joker in TV shows, video games, toys and even amusement park rides. BRUCE DAVISON Among the lesser-known Merricks from the original Broadway run, Mr. Davison later took an altogether sterner view on physical differences when he played the virulently antimutant Senator Robert Kelly in the "X-Men" films. Merrick's understated but insistent lessons on the humanity in all men and women would have served Senator Kelly well: in the first movie his xenophobic views get him transformed into a jellyfishlike form by Magneto. JOHN HURT David Lynch's film of "The Elephant Man," based on books and not Mr. Pomerance's play, opened while the show was still on Broadway and received eight Academy Award nominations. One was for Mr. Hurt, whose work as Merrick (underneath pounds of makeup) made an impression on at least one performer: Mr. Cooper said in an interview last year that seeing Mr. Hurt in the film made him want to be an actor. BILLY CRUDUP Fresh off establishing sex-symbol credentials in the 2000 film "Almost Famous," Mr. Crudup starred in the first and only Broadway revival of the play, receiving a Tony Award nomination for its short run. He also became Mr. Pomerance's favorite Merrick: "David Schofield was the best I saw until Billy Crudup took the role to another dimension in the revival of 2002." SIMINA CONTRAS and ALDO BILLINGSLEA The playwright said he was intrigued by two recent, less conventional castings of Merrick. Ms. Contras, a Romanian actress, made her United States debut in the part in a 2011 Chicago production by the Saint Sebastian Players, a community theater. In 2007 the 6-foot-4-inch, 240-pound Mr. Billingslea, one of the few African-Americans to have played the part, transformed himself through Pilates and lots of stretching for TheaterWorks in Mountain View, Calif. Although Mr. Pomerance didn't see either production, he was enthusiastic about the experimentation: "Applaud courage where it pops its head up." JEFF GOLDBLUM Mr. Goldblum put his oddball stamp on the role obliquely in the 1989 film comedy "The Tall Guy." He played an actor who got his big break in a Royal Shakespeare Company musical adaptation called (of course) "Elephant!" The showstopping tap-dance number: "He's Packing His Trunk."