Bald man with the long nose
Encyclopedia
The bald man with the long nose (often simply referred to as the bald man) is a fictional character in the children's novel series A Series of Unfortunate Events
by American author Lemony Snicket
. He is a tertiary antagonist
in the series and a member of Count Olaf's theater troupe. Although the bald man's real name is never given, he is frequently referred to as "Flacutono", an anagram
matic pseudonym based on the letters in "Count Olaf
".
as an egg
" (a trait he hides while in disguise by wearing a wig). His nose is of such unusual length he is forced to hide it, too, when in disguise, and Snicket describes it as "all curled up […] like an alligator hiding in the mud" when hidden under a surgical mask
; his nose is also described as "enormous", perhaps indicating it is more than just long. When first introduced in The Bad Beginning
, the bald man is described as wearing "a long black robe", a costume he retains throughout the series; he is further described as having bony hands. The bald man has "dark and beady eyes" and a "rough…voice" (openly contrasted with Olaf's shiny eyes and smooth voice), and laughs with a "high-pitched giggle". Snicket describes the bald man as "quite clever", although in The Miserable Mill Dr. Orwell asserts that he is not as clever as Olaf or herself.
In The Bad Beginning, the bald man implies a friendly relationship with Olaf, though no further evidence of this is shown throughout the series. He displays a paraphilic
attraction to Violet not shared by the other troupers on several occasions, ogling her when they first meet and referring to her as "little sleeping beauty" when her unconscious body is being prepared for decapitation. In addition, he is consistently crueler than the hook-handed man
, with whom he is often paired, even getting in an argument in The Hostile Hospital over the necessity of killing Violet, expressing a desire for her to awaken while her head is being sawed off and stating that "it's lots of fun fooling innocent people." While in disguise as Foreman Flacutono, he is verbally and physically abusive toward the Baudelaires, whereas the hook-handed man is markedly genial while disguised as Dr. Lucafont and even helpful to the Baudelaires while disguised as the doorman of 667 Dark Avenue.
While disguised as a foreman, the bald man institutes tyranny over the lumbermill workers, prompting one to call him "the worst foreman the world has ever seen", and repeatedly mispronounces the Baudelaires' last name and calls them "midgets
". In The Hostile Hospital, he confesses to the other members of the theater troupe that things have been "very stressful" at work (hunting down the Baudelaires), leading to his sour disposition. The bald man repeatedly expresses prejudice against the freaks
at the Caligari Carnival, and remarks that watching Beverly-and-Elliot (Violet and Klaus's two-headed freak disguise) try to eat is "more fun than kidnapping." When the freaks try to join Olaf's troupe, the bald man expresses his objections; his attempts to stop the freaks from joining eventually lead to his death.
In a review of Tim Curry
's audiobook narration of the series, Laura Miller of Salon.com
praised Curry's voice performance as the bald man. Luis Guzmán
, who portrays the bald man in the film
, called the part a "dream role". He described the character as "a follower with no place to go." Nevertheless, the bald man's role in the film, where he appears as a buffoon, is greatly diminished.
(1999) at a dinner party thrown by Count Olaf
. The bald man ogles Violet
and tells her not to upset Olaf, lest the count wreck her "pretty little face." When Olaf forces Violet and Klaus
to take part in The Marvelous Marriage (a play composed to secretly marry Violet to Olaf), the bald man stands onstage next to Klaus in the orphan's only scene. He warns the children that if they fail to participate, the hook-handed man
will murder their sister Sunny
on Olaf's behest. When Sunny is released and the marriage is annulled, the bald man assures Klaus that Olaf will murder the three children after the audience leaves; but when Arthur Poe
attempts to arrest Olaf, the count escapes with the bald man and the rest of his troupe.
(2000). A week prior to the Baudelaire orphans' arrival at the Lucky Smells Lumbermill, Olaf murders the mill's foreman, Firstein, and the bald man takes the foreman position under the pseudonym "Flacutono" (an anagram
of "Count Olaf"). As foreman, the bald man wears a wig and a surgical mask
to disguise his distinguishing traits from the Baudelaires, and earns the contempt the mill's workers as overly retributive and verbally abusive, even flouting the mill's co-owner, Charles. Count Olaf (disguised as the receptionist "Shirley Sinoit-Pécer") concocts a plan with the aid of the hypnotist Dr. Georgina Orwell to force Klaus to murder Charles. The bald man carries out much of this plan, tripping Klaus and breaking his glasses so the orphan must visit Dr. Orwell (who is an optometrist
) and issuing the hypnotic commands (by means of the trigger word "lucky") that lead Klaus to bind Charles to the mill's head saw
. After Violet dehypnotizes Klaus and Dr. Orwell is killed by the saw instead of Charles, the bald man (still disguised as "Flacutono") pretends to have been acting under the optometrist's hypnotic influence, but when Arthur Poe
sees through Olaf's receptionist disguise, the bald man and the count escape through the Lucky Smells library window.
(2001). After the Baudelaire orphans escape Olaf, his girlfriend Esmé
, and a mob (on false charges of murder) at the end of the previous book, the count brings together his complete troupe in order to search out the orphans. When Esmé captures Violet in the library of records
at Heimlich Hospital, the bald man with the long nose and the hook-handed man
are tasked with preparing her unconscious body for a public decapitation
. The bald man adopts the pseudonym "Dr. Flacutono" (the so-called "surgeon who invented the cranioectomy"), and he and the hook-handed man try to outperform one another in pandering to the audience of the operating theater. When Klaus and Sunny (disguised as the white-faced women in an attempt to rescue Violet) are revealed as the "Baudelaire murderers" to the crowd, the bald man remarks, "Now you know what it feels like to be a villain." After Olaf sets fire to the hospital, the bald man escapes with Olaf, Esmé, and the surviving members of the theater troupe.
are fed to the starved V.F.D. lions. The theater troupe members, including the bald man, dig a pit overnight to contain the lions. Esmé, who is jealous of Olaf's affection toward Olivia, informs the freaks that if they feed Olivia to the lions, they will be inducted into Olaf's troupe. When the attraction is held, the freaks try to push Olivia into the pit, but the bald man, partly as a result of believing the freaks unworthy of membership and partly as a result of the chaos that ensues, tries to stop them, and he and Olivia fall into the pit together and are eaten by the lions.
A Series of Unfortunate Events
A Series of Unfortunate Events is a series of children's novels by Lemony Snicket which follows the turbulent lives of Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire after their parents' death in an arsonous house fire...
by American author Lemony Snicket
Lemony Snicket
Lemony Snicket is the pen name of American novelist Daniel Handler . Snicket is the author of several children's books, serving as the narrator of A Series of Unfortunate Events and appearing as a character within the series. Because of this, the name Lemony Snicket may refer to both a fictional...
. He is a tertiary antagonist
Antagonist
An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...
in the series and a member of Count Olaf's theater troupe. Although the bald man's real name is never given, he is frequently referred to as "Flacutono", an anagram
Anagram
An anagram is a type of word play, the result of rearranging the letters of a word or phrase to produce a new word or phrase, using all the original letters exactly once; e.g., orchestra = carthorse, A decimal point = I'm a dot in place, Tom Marvolo Riddle = I am Lord Voldemort. Someone who...
matic pseudonym based on the letters in "Count Olaf
Count Olaf
Count Olaf is the primary antagonist of the children's novel series A Series of Unfortunate Events by American author Lemony Snicket. In the series, Olaf is an actor and is known to have committed many crimes as a member of the fire-starting side of V.F.D. prior to the events of the first book in...
".
Characterization
The bald man with the long nose, named as "among the nastiest members of Olaf's troupe", is described by Snicket as "baldBaldness
Baldness implies partial or complete lack of hair and can be understood as part of the wider topic of "hair thinning". The degree and pattern of baldness can vary greatly, but its most common cause is male and female pattern baldness, also known as androgenic alopecia, alopecia androgenetica or...
as an egg
Egg (food)
Eggs are laid by females of many different species, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, and have probably been eaten by mankind for millennia. Bird and reptile eggs consist of a protective eggshell, albumen , and vitellus , contained within various thin membranes...
" (a trait he hides while in disguise by wearing a wig). His nose is of such unusual length he is forced to hide it, too, when in disguise, and Snicket describes it as "all curled up […] like an alligator hiding in the mud" when hidden under a surgical mask
Surgical mask
A surgical mask also known as a procedure mask is intended to be worn by health professionals during surgery and at other times to catch the bacteria shed in liquid droplets and aerosols from the wearer's mouth and nose....
; his nose is also described as "enormous", perhaps indicating it is more than just long. When first introduced in The Bad Beginning
The Bad Beginning
The Bad Beginning is the first of thirteen novels in American author Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. It was later released in paperback under the name The Bad Beginning; or, Orphans! The novel tells the story of three children, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire, who are orphaned...
, the bald man is described as wearing "a long black robe", a costume he retains throughout the series; he is further described as having bony hands. The bald man has "dark and beady eyes" and a "rough…voice" (openly contrasted with Olaf's shiny eyes and smooth voice), and laughs with a "high-pitched giggle". Snicket describes the bald man as "quite clever", although in The Miserable Mill Dr. Orwell asserts that he is not as clever as Olaf or herself.
In The Bad Beginning, the bald man implies a friendly relationship with Olaf, though no further evidence of this is shown throughout the series. He displays a paraphilic
Paraphilia
Paraphilia is a biomedical term used to describe sexual arousal to objects, situations, or individuals that are not part of normative stimulation and that may cause distress or serious problems for the paraphiliac or persons associated with him or her...
attraction to Violet not shared by the other troupers on several occasions, ogling her when they first meet and referring to her as "little sleeping beauty" when her unconscious body is being prepared for decapitation. In addition, he is consistently crueler than the hook-handed man
Hook-handed man
Fernald is a villain from Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. He is known for having two large and sharp hooks where his hands should be...
, with whom he is often paired, even getting in an argument in The Hostile Hospital over the necessity of killing Violet, expressing a desire for her to awaken while her head is being sawed off and stating that "it's lots of fun fooling innocent people." While in disguise as Foreman Flacutono, he is verbally and physically abusive toward the Baudelaires, whereas the hook-handed man is markedly genial while disguised as Dr. Lucafont and even helpful to the Baudelaires while disguised as the doorman of 667 Dark Avenue.
While disguised as a foreman, the bald man institutes tyranny over the lumbermill workers, prompting one to call him "the worst foreman the world has ever seen", and repeatedly mispronounces the Baudelaires' last name and calls them "midgets
Dwarfism
Dwarfism is short stature resulting from a medical condition. It is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than 4 feet 10 inches , although this definition is problematic because short stature in itself is not a disorder....
". In The Hostile Hospital, he confesses to the other members of the theater troupe that things have been "very stressful" at work (hunting down the Baudelaires), leading to his sour disposition. The bald man repeatedly expresses prejudice against the freaks
Freak show
A freak show is an exhibition of biological rarities, referred to as "freaks of nature". Typical features would be physically unusual humans, such as those uncommonly large or small, those with both male and female secondary sexual characteristics, people with other extraordinary diseases and...
at the Caligari Carnival, and remarks that watching Beverly-and-Elliot (Violet and Klaus's two-headed freak disguise) try to eat is "more fun than kidnapping." When the freaks try to join Olaf's troupe, the bald man expresses his objections; his attempts to stop the freaks from joining eventually lead to his death.
In a review of Tim Curry
Tim Curry
Timothy James "Tim" Curry is a British actor, singer, composer and voice actor, known for his work in a diverse range of theatre, film and television productions. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California....
's audiobook narration of the series, Laura Miller of Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
praised Curry's voice performance as the bald man. Luis Guzmán
Luis Guzmán
Luis Guzmán is an actor from Puerto Rico. He is known for his character work. For much of his career, he has played roles largely as sidekicks, thugs, or policemen....
, who portrays the bald man in the film
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events is a 2004 black comedy film directed by Brad Silberling. It is an adaptation of the The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room, and The Wide Window, being the first three books in A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket...
, called the part a "dream role". He described the character as "a follower with no place to go." Nevertheless, the bald man's role in the film, where he appears as a buffoon, is greatly diminished.
The Bad Beginning
The bald man with the long nose is first introduced in The Bad BeginningThe Bad Beginning
The Bad Beginning is the first of thirteen novels in American author Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. It was later released in paperback under the name The Bad Beginning; or, Orphans! The novel tells the story of three children, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire, who are orphaned...
(1999) at a dinner party thrown by Count Olaf
Count Olaf
Count Olaf is the primary antagonist of the children's novel series A Series of Unfortunate Events by American author Lemony Snicket. In the series, Olaf is an actor and is known to have committed many crimes as a member of the fire-starting side of V.F.D. prior to the events of the first book in...
. The bald man ogles Violet
Violet Baudelaire
Violet Baudelaire is one of the main characters in the children's book series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket and appears in all thirteen books. She is the oldest of the Baudelaire orphans at 14 years old, and often helps her 12-year-old brother Klaus and her baby sister Sunny...
and tells her not to upset Olaf, lest the count wreck her "pretty little face." When Olaf forces Violet and Klaus
Klaus Baudelaire
Klaus Baudelaire is one of the main characters in the children's book series, A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket who appears in all thirteen novels. Klaus is the middle child of the Baudelaire orphans; he has an older sister named Violet and a younger sister named Sunny...
to take part in The Marvelous Marriage (a play composed to secretly marry Violet to Olaf), the bald man stands onstage next to Klaus in the orphan's only scene. He warns the children that if they fail to participate, the hook-handed man
Hook-handed man
Fernald is a villain from Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. He is known for having two large and sharp hooks where his hands should be...
will murder their sister Sunny
Sunny Baudelaire
Sunny Baudelaire is one of the protagonists of Lemony Snicket's novel series A Series of Unfortunate Events. Sunny is the youngest of the three Baudelaire orphans, and is described as an infant through much of the series...
on Olaf's behest. When Sunny is released and the marriage is annulled, the bald man assures Klaus that Olaf will murder the three children after the audience leaves; but when Arthur Poe
Arthur Poe
Arthur Poe is a fictional character in the children's novel series A Series of Unfortunate Events by American author Lemony Snicket. Poe is a banker in charge of the Baudelaire and Quagmire fortunes and the Baudelaire orphans' guardianship...
attempts to arrest Olaf, the count escapes with the bald man and the rest of his troupe.
The Miserable Mill
The bald man makes his second appearance in The Miserable MillThe Miserable Mill
The Miserable Mill is the fourth of thirteen novels in American author Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. It is to be released in paperback under the name The Miserable Mill; or, Hypnotism! The novel tells the story of the Baudelaire orphans continuing their adventure, but this time...
(2000). A week prior to the Baudelaire orphans' arrival at the Lucky Smells Lumbermill, Olaf murders the mill's foreman, Firstein, and the bald man takes the foreman position under the pseudonym "Flacutono" (an anagram
Anagram
An anagram is a type of word play, the result of rearranging the letters of a word or phrase to produce a new word or phrase, using all the original letters exactly once; e.g., orchestra = carthorse, A decimal point = I'm a dot in place, Tom Marvolo Riddle = I am Lord Voldemort. Someone who...
of "Count Olaf"). As foreman, the bald man wears a wig and a surgical mask
Surgical mask
A surgical mask also known as a procedure mask is intended to be worn by health professionals during surgery and at other times to catch the bacteria shed in liquid droplets and aerosols from the wearer's mouth and nose....
to disguise his distinguishing traits from the Baudelaires, and earns the contempt the mill's workers as overly retributive and verbally abusive, even flouting the mill's co-owner, Charles. Count Olaf (disguised as the receptionist "Shirley Sinoit-Pécer") concocts a plan with the aid of the hypnotist Dr. Georgina Orwell to force Klaus to murder Charles. The bald man carries out much of this plan, tripping Klaus and breaking his glasses so the orphan must visit Dr. Orwell (who is an optometrist
Optometry
Optometry is a health care profession concerned with eyes and related structures, as well as vision, visual systems, and vision information processing in humans. Optometrists, or Doctors of Optometry, are state licensed medical professionals trained to prescribe and fit lenses to improve vision,...
) and issuing the hypnotic commands (by means of the trigger word "lucky") that lead Klaus to bind Charles to the mill's head saw
Head saw
A head saw, framesaw, gang saw or head rig, is the saw that makes the initial cuts in a log at a sawmill, turning a log into cants, or planks, of wood.-History:...
. After Violet dehypnotizes Klaus and Dr. Orwell is killed by the saw instead of Charles, the bald man (still disguised as "Flacutono") pretends to have been acting under the optometrist's hypnotic influence, but when Arthur Poe
Arthur Poe
Arthur Poe is a fictional character in the children's novel series A Series of Unfortunate Events by American author Lemony Snicket. Poe is a banker in charge of the Baudelaire and Quagmire fortunes and the Baudelaire orphans' guardianship...
sees through Olaf's receptionist disguise, the bald man and the count escape through the Lucky Smells library window.
The Hostile Hospital
The bald man makes his third appearance in The Hostile HospitalThe Hostile Hospital
The Hostile Hospital is the eighth novel in the book series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket.-Plot and summary:The book begins where the previous one left off, with the three Baudelaire children escaping the Village of Fowl Devotees...
(2001). After the Baudelaire orphans escape Olaf, his girlfriend Esmé
Esmé Squalor
Esmé Gigi Geniveve Squalor is the secondary antagonist of the children's novel series A Series of Unfortunate Events by American author Lemony Snicket. She is Count Olaf's girlfriend. Prior to the events of the series she was a professional stage actress and member of V.F.D. Esmé is distinguished...
, and a mob (on false charges of murder) at the end of the previous book, the count brings together his complete troupe in order to search out the orphans. When Esmé captures Violet in the library of records
Archive
An archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization...
at Heimlich Hospital, the bald man with the long nose and the hook-handed man
Hook-handed man
Fernald is a villain from Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. He is known for having two large and sharp hooks where his hands should be...
are tasked with preparing her unconscious body for a public decapitation
Decapitation
Decapitation is the separation of the head from the body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by other more sophisticated means such as a guillotine...
. The bald man adopts the pseudonym "Dr. Flacutono" (the so-called "surgeon who invented the cranioectomy"), and he and the hook-handed man try to outperform one another in pandering to the audience of the operating theater. When Klaus and Sunny (disguised as the white-faced women in an attempt to rescue Violet) are revealed as the "Baudelaire murderers" to the crowd, the bald man remarks, "Now you know what it feels like to be a villain." After Olaf sets fire to the hospital, the bald man escapes with Olaf, Esmé, and the surviving members of the theater troupe.
The Carnivorous Carnival
The bald man makes his final appearance in The Carnivorous Carnival (2002). He travels with Olaf and his troupe to Olivia Caliban (disguised as the fortuneteller "Madame Lulu") at the Caligari Carnival. Olaf creates a carnival attraction in which randomly selected sideshow freaksFreak show
A freak show is an exhibition of biological rarities, referred to as "freaks of nature". Typical features would be physically unusual humans, such as those uncommonly large or small, those with both male and female secondary sexual characteristics, people with other extraordinary diseases and...
are fed to the starved V.F.D. lions. The theater troupe members, including the bald man, dig a pit overnight to contain the lions. Esmé, who is jealous of Olaf's affection toward Olivia, informs the freaks that if they feed Olivia to the lions, they will be inducted into Olaf's troupe. When the attraction is held, the freaks try to push Olivia into the pit, but the bald man, partly as a result of believing the freaks unworthy of membership and partly as a result of the chaos that ensues, tries to stop them, and he and Olivia fall into the pit together and are eaten by the lions.
See also
- Count Olaf's theater troupe
- Hook-handed manHook-handed manFernald is a villain from Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. He is known for having two large and sharp hooks where his hands should be...
- White-faced women
- One who looks like neither a man nor a woman
- Hook-handed man
- V.F.D. membersV.F.D. membersIn the children's novel series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket, many characters are members of a secret organization known as V.F.D. The following is a list all of the known members of V.F.D.-Beatrice Baudelaire:...
- Count OlafCount OlafCount Olaf is the primary antagonist of the children's novel series A Series of Unfortunate Events by American author Lemony Snicket. In the series, Olaf is an actor and is known to have committed many crimes as a member of the fire-starting side of V.F.D. prior to the events of the first book in...