Zelig Page #3

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is neurological in origin.

This patient is suffering

from a brain tumor...

and I should not be surprised

if within several weeks he died.

We have not been able

to locate the tumor...

but we're still looking.

Ironically,

within two weeks' time...

it is Dr. Birsky himself

who dies of a brain tumor.

Leonard Zelig is fine.

Throughout the weeks

of testing and speculation...

Eudora Fletcher

begins to feel...

that the patient

might be suffering...

not from

a physiological disorder...

but from a psychological one.

It is Zelig's unstable makeup,

she suggests...

that accounts

for his metamorphoses.

The governing board of doctors

is hostile to her notion.

They conclude

that Zelig's malady...

can be traced to poor alignment

of the vertebrae.

Tests prove them wrong...

and cause a temporary problem

for the patient.

Now the press and public

hang on every bit of news...

thoroughly absorbed

in the real-life drama.

The continuing saga

at Manhattan Hospital goes on.

This morning, doctors report,

experiments were conducted.

Several women were placed

in proximity to the subject...

but no change occurred...

Ieading authorities

to conclude...

that the phenomenon

does not occur with women.

Doctors will experiment

with a midget and a chicken.

Leonard Zelig continues

to astound scientists...

at New York's

Manhattan Hospital...

where numerous tests

have led nowhere...

in determining the nature of

this astonishing manifestation.

He is confronted

by two overweight men...

at the request of the doctors.

As the men

discuss their obesity...

an initially reticent Zelig

joins in...

swelling himself

to a miraculous 250 pounds.

Next, in the presence

of two Negro men...

Zelig rapidly

becomes one himself.

What will they think of next?

Meanwhile, Americans all over

have their own reactions.

I wish I could be Lenny Zelig,

the changing man.

I'd be different people.

Someday my wishes

will come true.

Leonard Zelig is

one of the finest gentlemen...

in the United States of America.

He is the cat's pajamas.

Trying a new approach...

Dr. Fletcher places the subject

under hypnosis.

Tell me why you assume

the characteristics...

of the person you're with.

-It's safe.

-What do you mean safe?

Safe...

to be like the others.

You want to be safe?

I want to be liked.

Probing Zelig's unconscious...

Dr. Fletcher gradually

puts together the pieces...

of Zelig's behavioral puzzle.

Dividing her time

between the hospital...

and the 42nd-Street Library,

she writes her report.

A closed meeting

of doctors listens...

as Dr. Fletcher describes Zelig

as a human chameleon.

Like the lizard

that is endowed by nature...

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