While Oliver Sacks is beloved for his own writing, his work also influenced and inspired a great number of playwrights, musicians, and filmmakers. Sacks himself had no interest in pop culture; according to his partner, Bill Hayes, he had absolutely no knowledge of popular music or film after 1955. However, popular culture has had plenty of interest in Oliver Sacks’ work.
After the release of The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, multiple artists were inspired by the story of Dr. P. In 1986, a one-act opera of the same title premiered at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London. The opera was adapted by Michael Morris, and Michael Nyman composed the music. It had its U.S. premiere in 1987, and it was performed at New York City’s Lincoln Center in 1988. In 1987, a taped version of the opera directed by Christopher Rawlence was broadcasted on British television. Peter Brook created a separate theatrical adaptation of Dr. P.’s story in 1993. Its first production was at the Theatre des Bouffes du Nord in Paris. Although the book’s titular story received the most attention from other artists, Peter Barnes adapted “Witty Ticcy Ray” into a one-act play called Drummer.
Of his other works, the most famous adaptation of an Oliver Sacks story would be Awakenings (1990), directed by Penny Marshall and starring Robin Williams and Robert De Niro. Sacks came to the set and met with Robin Williams, who played Dr. Sacks in the movie. The story follows the journey of Dr. Sacks as a young neurologist who is assigned to a ward of encephalitis patients who haven’t left their beds in decades. After administering a new, experimental drug on his patients, Sacks is amazed when they are miraculously able to move and talk once again. Critics received the film well, and it was nominated for three Academy Awards.
Two other major motion pictures were adapted from Oliver Sacks stories. At First Sight (1999) stars Val Kilmer, Mira Sorvino, Bruce Davidson, and Nathan Lane, and is based on “To See or Not See,” a clinical tale featured Sacks’ 1995 book, An Anthropologist on Mars. The Music Never Stopped (2011) is based on another story from that publication, titled “The Last Hippie.” The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and stars Lou Taylor Pucci, Julia Ormond, and J.K. Simmons.
A litany of documentary specials have also been produced about Dr. Sacks’ work, including Musical Minds (2009), a NOVA documentary about music therapy, Oliver Sacks: Tales of Music and the Brain (2008), a one-hour BBC One documentary, and The Mind Traveller (1998), a multi-part series that follows Sacks around the world as he works with patients with a wide range of neurological disorders. He also contributed to the popular WNYC podcast Radiolab. Although not everyone has read an Oliver Sacks book, adaptations and homages to his stories have introduced millions to his work.
