# Celebrities who were major liars about their lives **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 14, 2004, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-were-major-liars-about-their-lives/245078 "2004-05-14T05:45:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2004, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-were-major-liars-about-their-lives/245078/121 "2004-05-17T20:46:26Z")
I was thinkin’… If however you still want to have a beef about MJ you could take issue with the B.S. that the Jackson 5 did all their early stuff when MJ was five. I remember back in the sixth grade, much was made of the song “Ben” - because “it was done when MJ was five!” That was a load of horse-pucky! It was built out of publicity hype that said MJ “started his career at the age of five.” At the age of five, Michael Jackson sang a song from _The Sound of Music_ as part of a run-of-the-mill school assembly thing. Yes, the audience was tremendously impressed at his vocal abilities, however, it was _a school assembly!_. Jermaine Jackson was the main lead volcalist for the Jackson 5 until well into 1967. Michael Jackson was **9** years old when they recorded their first single. Still, if you want to embellish a _lot_ his first “public performance” was at the age of 5 (in a school assembly, just like every other kid in North America.) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2004, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-were-major-liars-about-their-lives/245078/122 "2004-05-17T22:37:15Z")
> [@Governor Quinn](#): > > Walter Matthau made up his original last name, his ancestry, and most of his exploits before entering acting. > > In this case, however, he appears to have made it up as a joke, unlike most of the people already mentioned. I’d forgotten about him. He also told people that his father was a Russian Orthodox Priest and his mother was a Catholic nun when they met and this is actually in some of his biographies. (If I’m not mistaken, he was really Jewish and of German ancestry.) Eva Peron’s lies may actually have cost her political office. She lied frequently about her date of birth and eventually had her birth certificate changed to not only show that she was born about 4 years later than she actually was but that her parents were married (which they weren’t- one reason she chose the d.o.b. that she chose was because it was about a year after the death of her father’s wife and was the first time he actually _could_ have legally married her mother). Later when she was trying her “dead level damnedest” to become Juan’s Vice President (a notion that not even Juan was that wild about), it was pointed out by a political enemy that she couldn’t- you had to be 30 years old to be VP of Argentina and according to her birth certificate she was only 28. (She was in fact about 31/32 at the time.) ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2004, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-were-major-liars-about-their-lives/245078/123 "2004-05-17T23:00:24Z")
Does anybody have a link to a site that shows what Jackson’s kids look like? Now you’ve got me curious. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-were-major-liars-about-their-lives/245078/124 "2004-05-18T01:19:44Z")
Here are a few: [1](http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/38493000/jpg/_38493705_jackson_children300_reu.jpg) [2](http://www.wklh.com/images/DaveCarole/MichaelJacksonBaby.jpg) [3](http://www.nicksthings.com/images/creepyjacksons.jpg) [4](http://www.icenine.org/mjforsale/photos/parismatch.jpg) Other lies Jackson told in the series: the children have a warm and loving relationship with their mother, whom they visit frequently (Prince Michael I when asked replied “I don’t have a mommy”) and that he ran home with his daughter as soon as she was born without even letting her be cleaned off (I don’t care how rich you are- there’s no hospital in America that would let you do that- the liability in case of infection or any of a thousand other possible complications would be wayyy too intense). ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-were-major-liars-about-their-lives/245078/125 "2004-05-18T01:38:08Z")
> [@JillGat](#): > > They used to laugh about how he’d wear his military uniform (really a movie costume) all the time, trying to impress the girls. Why would he have to wear a movie costume when he had the real thing? He was a Captain in the Army Air Corps’ 1st Motion Picture Unit, on active duty from April 1942 to December 1945. Before and after that he was in the Army Reserve, discharged as a Major in 1953. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-were-major-liars-about-their-lives/245078/126 "2004-05-18T02:14:30Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Here are a few: > > [1](http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/38493000/jpg/_38493705_jackson_children300_reu.jpg) > [2](http://www.wklh.com/images/DaveCarole/MichaelJacksonBaby.jpg) > [3](http://www.nicksthings.com/images/creepyjacksons.jpg) > [4](http://www.icenine.org/mjforsale/photos/parismatch.jpg) Those kids can’t be Jacko’s biological children. Remember, that old Jackson Five picture that **Sampiro** linked to is what Jackson naturally looks like. _Those_ are the features that he would pass on to his offspring. Those kids have got to be adopted or something. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-were-major-liars-about-their-lives/245078/127 "2004-05-18T03:18:55Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > I asked because I’m a professional genealogist, and regularly order birth certificates of people living and dead. Califiornia, like many other states, considers birth certificates public documents, not private — anyone can order a non-certified copy of a birth certificate. And the California birth index, 1905-1995, is a on-line public database. Extremely off-topic, but how much do you charge for your services? I’m interested in trying to get my family history charted, but I have no idea as to how to proceed. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-were-major-liars-about-their-lives/245078/128 "2004-05-18T13:17:43Z")
In his book “Nobody Sees You Eat Tuna Fish,” David Brenner states “my son’s mother was never my girlfriend, but just someone I dated.” No, David, Charisse Brody was the person you lived with from 1980-1983 and had a vicious custody battle with over yours & her son Cole Jay. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-were-major-liars-about-their-lives/245078/129 "2004-05-18T13:39:52Z")
Delaware Senator Joe Biden got in hot water some time ago for campaigning with hard luck stories about his ancestors he deliberately made up, and knew were false. ---
**Author:** ![Sat\_on\_Cookie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/71c47a/32.png) [@Sat\_on\_Cookie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sat_on_Cookie)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-were-major-liars-about-their-lives/245078/130 "2004-05-18T15:20:40Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > This is also true of Ted Bundy. His "parents’ were really his grandparents, and his sister “Louise” was actually his mother. I seem to recall some speculation that his grandfather was really his father (and his sister was his mother). ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-were-major-liars-about-their-lives/245078/131 "2004-05-18T15:53:26Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Those kids can’t be Jacko’s biological children. Remember, that old Jackson Five picture that **Sampiro** linked to is what Jackson naturally looks like. _Those_ are the features that he would pass on to his offspring. Those kids have got to be adopted or something. _sigh_[This is the mom](http://www.mjackson.de/galerie/michael/familie/images/debbie10.jpg) of the two older kids. _Those_ are the features that she passed on to her offspring. While she is now claiming that she was inseminated with non-MJ sperm (they are in mediation with respect to their custody arrangment in light of all the accusations against MJ), nevertheless, even if MJ really truly is the bio-dad the kids could still come out pasty white. _Look at the mom!_ Geez. A friend of mine has one blakc parent and one white parent and he complexion makes her look like the Pillsbury Dough Boy. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-were-major-liars-about-their-lives/245078/132 "2004-05-18T16:02:03Z")
> [@Sat on Cookie](#): > > I seem to recall some speculation that his grandfather was really his father (and his sister was his mother). There has always been major speculation about Bundy’s paternity, including the idea that his mother was impregnated by her father. Nobody really knows, and apparently even his mother has put the circumstances of Bundy’s conception out of her mind. Another Brenner lie: He claims that the TV show he did with Leslie Anne Downs was never shown in the US is because the TV executives didn’t like the premis that a guy would be living on his ex-wife’s couch. No, they didn’t like the idea of a TV show where you played a GAY guy living on his ex-wife’s couch or anywhere else (not that there’s anything wrong with that). ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-were-major-liars-about-their-lives/245078/133 "2004-05-18T17:45:14Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Delaware Senator Joe Biden got in hot water some time ago for campaigning with hard luck stories about his ancestors he deliberately made up, and knew were false. Even worse than being fake ancestors, they were the real ancestors of (then) Labour (UK) leader Neil Kinnock. Biden stole from Kinnock’s speechs. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-were-major-liars-about-their-lives/245078/134 "2004-05-18T18:02:50Z")
> [@The Asbestos Mango](#): > > Lauren Stratford, on the other hand, seems to be a real piece of work. The alleged Michelle was apparently a highly suggestible woman who fell into the hands of a what members of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation like to call a “therp” who had her remembering all kinds of weird shit that never happened. She eventually divorced her husband and married the therp. Stratford seems not to have benefit of this excuse. She basically saw the then current craze of people supposedly coming out of Satanic cults, finding God, and making it big on the Christian talk show/bookstore circuit and decided to cash in. > > I actually read her book _Satan’s Underground_, and the whole thing rang false from top to bottom. It’s a truly bizarre read. She describes sacrificing an infant (up, down, went the knife) but does not give any details about who the baby had originally belonged to. In the last chapter of the book, she states that the baby was in fact hers, and that she had given birth to and sacrificed two other children. Nowhere in the book does she mention having been pregnant. People who knew her during the alleged Satanic Captivity phase of her life say that she was attending college at the time, and that they had never seen her pregnant. > > I think some enterprising sociology, psychology, or religious studies student could have a potential thesis on the subject of these fake ex-Satanists. The late (she died in the past year) Lauren Stratford’s story had gotten even better. Apparently, she discovered that her “abusive” mother had been her adopted mother & that she was actually a child survivor of the Nazi concentration camps. ---
**Author:** ![Ross](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@Ross](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ross)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-were-major-liars-about-their-lives/245078/135 "2004-05-18T20:49:57Z")
Alec Guinness did an interview with Michael PArkinson (looked like it had been done in the seventies) during which he started talking about once having met James Dean. Sounded fair enough. Then about how they’d been in the carpark of some restaurant and Dean had wanted to show off his new car… at this stage the bullshit alarm starts ringing faintly in the background. Then Guinness apparently looked straight at Dean and said “Please don’t get into that car. If you do, you will be dead by next Thursday”. Which was the day he’d died, or something. It was very clearly bollocks before he even got to the punchline, and when the camera cut to Parkinson he looked a bit pissed off. Eventually he said “spooky”. I think Guinness knew he’d been busted 'cos he quickly changed the subject. I just remember being really fascinated by how I, twenty years later, could clearly identify the story as bollocks just as quickly as Parkinson, when (iirc) Guinness was a good actor and should have been able to carry it off. My mother suggested it was something his agent had convinced him to say, or something, but then she tends to look for the best in people. Regarding Charlie Chaplin’s Jewishness… I was told he simply “didn’t deny it” during the war. Did he actually go out and parade a falsehood? Naughty Charlie. Next thing you’ll be telling me Fox Mulder didn’t mysteriously show up in the cutting room of his first studio. Tchoh. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-were-major-liars-about-their-lives/245078.md?page=6)