Bald Man

## Unknown

"*I disagree. I think the bald one is the scariest.*"
―Violet Baudelaire[src]
The **Bald Man**, frequently using the alias **Flacutono**, was an associate of the villainous Count Olaf and a member of the count's original theater troupe. As bald as an egg but every bit as devious as his boss, the bald man helped Olaf in several of his schemes to steal the Baudelaire fortune from the orphans Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire. Violet found him the scariest of Olaf's henchmen, though Klaus disagreed, finding another, a henchperson of indeterminate gender, the scariest. The bald man most notably aided Olaf in his scheme at the Lucky Smells Lumbermill in Paltryville, where he disguised himself as Foreman Flacutono in order to keep an eye on the Baudelaire orphans as they were working there following the so-called disappearance of the former foreman, Firstein. His disguise was later revealed along with Olaf's, but the two were still able to escape. Later, the bald man disguised himself as Doctor Flacutono at Heimlich Hospital and aided the rest of the troupe in performing the world's first cranioectomy on Violet, though the operation was thwarted by Klaus and the hospital was burned down by Olaf's associates. He later helped in another of his bosses' schemes at Caligari Carnival, however his loyalty ended up costing him his life as he was, along with the fortune teller Madame Lulu, devoured by a pack of starving lions during a show held by Olaf.

## Personality and traits

"*Go as fast as you can, and then go faster!*"
―Bald Man, disguised as Flacutono[src]
As bald as an egg and as devious as Count Olaf himself, the bald man was cunning, scheming and willing to do anything, no matter how treacherous or evil, for his boss. He was loyal to Olaf and to fellow members of Olaf's theater troupe, showing concern for the henchperson of indeterminate gender's life when they were left behind during the Heimlich Hospital fire. Violet Baudelaire found him the scariest of Olaf's associates due to a particular encounter with the bald man during their first meeting when he approached her and told her she was a "pretty little one", and warned her not to bother Count Olaf otherwise her "pretty little face" might be wrecked. The bald man aided Olaf in several of his schemes and used numerous aliases and disguises. During Olaf's scheme at Lucky Smells Lumbermill in Paltryville, the Bald Man masqueraded as "Foreman Flacutono", the replacement for Foreman Firstein, the lumbermill's previous foreman who had "disappeared". Flacutono was nasty, strict and overly demanding, often using the phrase "go as fast as you can and then go faster" to his employees. Even Phil, an optimist, openly admitted to preferring the original Foreman. Flacutono always kept his face covered with a surgeon's mask, and woke up his employees every morning by banging metal pots together.

During Olaf's scheme at Heimlich Hospital, the bald man posed as "Dr. Flacutono", the head doctor at the hospital, retaining not only his original alias but also the personality and demanding nature of Foreman Flacutono as he aided Olaf and the rest of the troupe in performing the world's first cranioectomy on Violet Baudelaire. When not in disguise, the bald man commonly dressed in a long, black robe, and was tall, skinny and bald. He had an extremely long nose, and eyes as black as that of a shark. The bald man could also be easily driven with the promise of a reward, particularly money. This was ultimately what was inadvertently responsible for his death at the hands of several lions at Caligari Carnival when he fell into the pit containing the beasts whilst attempting to throw the conjoined freaks Beverly and Elliot into the pit for a special reward from Count Olaf.

## Behind the scenes

The Bald Man was portrayed rather differently in each adaptation of the books. In the non-canon film, he was portrayed by Luis Guzmán, and instead of being tall and skinny with a long nose, he was short, chubby and had a short nose. In addition, his personality was rather different: instead of being devious and cunning, he appeared to be rather dim, and more like a friend to Count Olaf than a henchman.

The Bald Man was portrayed by actor John DeSantis in the Netflix TV series adaptation of *A Series of Unfortunate Events*. He appeared taller and more muscular than in the books, and didn't have a long nose. He had an expanded role; in the books, he only appeared in *The Bad Beginning*, *The Miserable Mill* and *The Hostile Hospital* whilst in the TV series he additionally appeared in episodes of *The Reptile Room*, *The Wide Window*, *The Austere Academy*, *The Ersatz Elevator*, *The Vile Village*, *The Slippery Slope* and *The End*, never having appeared in the original books.

Strangely, whilst in the book version of *The Miserable Mill* the bald man disguised himself as Foreman Flacutono, in the series the alias was used by Fernald. In the books, he later re-used the alias of "Flacutono" whilst disguised as Dr. Flacutono at Heimlich Hospital, but in the series the disguise was once again instead used by Fernald, and the bald man disguised himself as " Dr. Tocuna", an alias originally used by one of the white-faced women in the books - the two sisters now went by the aliases of Dr. Flo and Glo, the former originally being used in the book and the latter being a new addition to the story. In the book version of *The Bad Beginning* the bald man threatened Violet, but this was omitted from the TV Series. Also, in the book the lights were turned off during *The Marvelous Marriage* by the wart-faced man, but in the series they were turned off by the bald man. In the series adaptation of *The Reptile Room*, the bald man was disguised as a police officer to aide Olaf. In *The Wide Window*, he and the other henchpeople were disguised as sailors. He disguised himself as half of the school mascot at Prufrock Preparatory School along with Fernald in *The Austere Academy*, a waiter at Herring Houdini in *The Ersatz Elevator* and a villager at the Village of Fowl Devotees in *The Vile Village*.

Additionally, in the book version of *The Carnivorous Carnival*, the bald man fell into the pit of starving lions along with Madame Lulu, but in the series he survived and continued travelling with Count Olaf to the Mortmain Mountains. There, at Mount Fraught, he, along with the white-faced women and the henchperson of indeterminate gender, abandoned Olaf when asked to murder Sunny Baudelaire, a baby, by the count and his adoptive parents. It is later revealed that they had become successful actors, at least for a night. A running joke concerning the bald man introduced in the TV series was his attraction to Olaf’s girlfriend Esmé Gigi Geneveve Squalor.

## Appearances

* *The Bad Beginning* (First appearance)
* *The Reptile Room* (Mentioned only)
* *The Wide Window* (Mentioned only)
* *The Miserable Mill*
* *The Hostile Hospital*
* *The Carnivorous Carnival*

## Notes and references

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 *Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events* (film)
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 *A Series of Unfortunate Events* (TV series)
3. ↑ Count Olaf Interview
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 *The Miserable Mill*
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 *The Hostile Hospital*
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 *The Bad Beginning*
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 *The Wide Window*
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 *The Carnivorous Carnival*
9. ↑ *The Reptile Room*
10. ↑ *The Austere Academy*
11. ↑ *The Ersatz Elevator*
12. ↑ *The Vile Village*
13. ↑ *The Slippery Slope*
14. ↑ *The End (novel)*
15. ↑ *The Hostile Hospital: Part One*
16. ↑ *The Hostile Hospital: Part Two*
17. ↑ *A Bad Beginning: Part One*
18. ↑ *A Bad Beginning: Part Two*
19. ↑ *The Reptile Room: Part Two*
20. ↑ *The Wide Window: Part One*
21. ↑ *The Wide Window: Part Two*
22. ↑ *The Austere Academy: Part One*
23. ↑ *The Austere Academy: Part Two*
24. ↑ *The Ersatz Elevator: Part One*
25. ↑ *The Ersatz Elevator: Part Two*
26. ↑ *The Vile Village: Part One*
27. ↑ *The Vile Village: Part Two*
28. ↑ *The Carnivorous Carnival: Part One*
29. ↑ *The Carnivorous Carnival: Part Two*
30. ↑ *Slippery Slope: Part One*
31. ↑ *The End* (episode)