The face of the Man in the Iron Mask was hidden by...

He died on 19 November 1703 under the name of Marchioly

Have you ever heard about the Man in the Iron Mask? The possible identity of the mysterious man has been thoroughly discussed as no one ever saw his face because, according to the legend, it was hidden by an iron mask. In fact, his mask was not made of iron: it was velvet.

The facts that are known about the famous prisoner are based mainly on correspondence between his jailer and his superiors in Paris.

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48 Comments

Dennis Poletti

That's a fargen trick question!!Wouldn't he be the man in the "Black Velvet Mask"

Denis Sagendorf

THIS HAS ALSO BEEN TOLD AS "THE COUNT OF MONTE CHRISTO". HE WAS JAILED WHERE HE WAS MASKED, HE WAS REPUTED TO BE THE KING'S TWIN BROTHER. THEN HE WAS THE RIGHTFUL KING AND HIS YOUNGER TWIN BROTHER DID A COUP SWITCHEROO.

George Oliver Prince

Interesting, and yeah, a little tricky

Mrs. Marci

They wanted the answer from history, not the movie.

Steve McVey

Bill Coe, are we supposed to be impressed by your ability to use Google billy? And none of that cut and paste sheds any light on the answer...

Bill Coe

There is the book and then there are the movies. WHICH ONE IS THIS BASED ON? Films and television 1909: La maschera di ferro – Italian silent film 1923: Der Mann mit der eisernen Maske – German silent film 1929: The Iron Mask – An American silent film starring Douglas Fairbanks 1938: The Face Behind the Mask – An American short film directed by Jacques Tourneur 1939: The Man in the Iron Mask – American black and white film directed by James Whale, starring Louis Hayward, Joan Bennett, Warren William and Alan Hale, Sr. (as "Porthos") 1952: Lady in the Iron Mask – American color film starring Louis Hayward, Patricia Medina and Alan Hale, Jr. (as "Porthos") 1962: Le Masque de fer – Italian/French film, starring Jean Marais 1968: The Man in the Iron Mask – British TV series (9 episodes) 1970: Start the Revolution Without Me 1977: The Man in the Iron Mask (1977) – British TV movie with Richard Chamberlain, Patrick McGoohan, Louis Jourdan, Jenny Agutter, Ian Holm, Ralph Richardson and Vivien Merchant 1979: The Fifth Musketeer also known as Behind the Iron Mask – Austrian/West German film directed by Ken Annakin, with Sylvia Kristel, Ursula Andress, Beau Bridges, Cornel Wilde, Lloyd Bridges, José Ferrer, Olivia de Havilland, Ian McShane, Rex Harrison and Alan Hale Jr. (as "Porthos"); remake of the 1939 film 1985: The Man in the Iron Mask – Australian animated TV film 1987: Three Musketeers – Japanese anime television series, included the character of The Man in the Iron Mask depicted as a Doctor Doom-like villain. 1987: DuckTales – American animated TV series, Season 1, Episode 10 included a character imprisoned within an iron mask and loosely followed the plot of The Man in the Iron Mask. 1994: Legends of the Hidden Temple - American children's game show, had an episode entitled "The Mask of the Man in the Iron Mask." 1998: The Man in the Iron Mask – British/American film directed by Randall Wallace, with Leonardo DiCaprio, Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, Gérard Depardieu and Gabriel Byrne 1998: The Man in the Iron Mask also known as The Mask of Dumas – American film, directed by William Richert, with Edward Albert, Dana Barron, Rex Ryon and Timothy Bottoms 2007: Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Three Times - 18th season of The Simpsons animated television program. 2009: G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra - James McCullen's family background is retconned as his ancestor James McCullen IX was only punished by the French monarchy after being caught selling weapons to both them and England, condemned to have a red-hot iron mask welded onto his face and serve as an example to others who attempted to overthrow the crown. 2014: "The Musketeers" (BBC 2014 adaptation) – series 1, episode 6 2016: The Flash: Hunter Zolomon/Zoom a speedster terrorist from Earth-2 kidnapped Jay Garrick/The Flash, the heroic speedster of Earth-3 in a failed attempt to harness his speed to cure himself of an illness brought on by overuse of Velocity-9. When he failed he was inspired to take up Jay's mantle and created his own persona as "The Flash" on Earth-2, and kept Jay in his lair and forced him to wear an iron mask. After Hunter's defeat Jay was eventually rescued and he destroyed the mask.