Roy Lee "Rocky" Dennis (December 4, 1961 - October 4, 1978) was an American boy afflicted with craniodiaphyseal dysplasia, an extremely rare, disfiguring, sclerotic bone disorder. The condition usually results in neurological disorders and death during childhood. His body was donated to UCLA Medical Center after he died. [1] His life was the basis for the 1985 feature film drama Mask .

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Biography

Rocky Dennis was born December 4, 1961 in Glendora, California, to mother Florence "Rusty" Tullis and father Roy Dennis. At the age of 2, Dennis was diagnosed with craniodiaphyseal dysplasia, also known as CDD or lionitis, an extremely rare disease occurring in approximately 1 in every 22 million births, with fewer than 20 recorded cases. It is a bone disorder that causes calcium to build up in the skull, disfiguring the facial features and reducing life expectancy.

Doctors informed his mother that the abnormal calcium deposits in his skull would push his eyes toward the edges of his head, twist his nose out of shape, cause his eyesight and hearing to fail and, if the handful of cases on record were any indication, result in tremendous pressure that would destroy his brain before he was seven.

Dennis experienced problems with eyesight and hearing along with painful headaches, but was able to do most of the things doctors told him he would never accomplish, such as learn to read. They told him that his poor eyesight, which made him legally blind, meant that he would never read a book. However, he entered school at the age of six, despite disapproval by many teachers, and although experiencing a slow start (he spent two years in the first grade), he was able to make excellent progress thereafter.

Dennis died of complications from his disease on October 4, 1978, two months shy of his 17th birthday.

Family

Dennis's mother, Rusty Dennis, died on November 11, 2006 as a result of an infection following a motorcycle accident, at the age of 70. Dennis also had an older brother, Joshua, who died in 1987 at the age of 32 from complications related to AIDS contracted from a blood transfusion. ^[2] Joshua was neither depicted nor mentioned in the film Mask .

References

1. Roy L. "Rocky" Dennis (1961 - 1978) - Find A Grave Memorial
2. "Florence 'Rusty' Tullis, 70; portrayed by Cher in 'Mask'," ''Boston Globe'', Dennis McClellan, November 20, 2006. Retrieved from ''Boston.com'' on 2008-11-28.