# Did they ever find out who that English piano guy was? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 14, 2005, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-out-who-that-english-piano-guy-was/312447 "2005-07-14T01:51:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chairman\_Pow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-out-who-that-english-piano-guy-was/312447/1 "2005-07-14T01:51:38Z")
You know, the one who they found wandering around, soaking wet and he wouldn’t talk, but when they put him in front of a piano, he started playing? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-out-who-that-english-piano-guy-was/312447/2 "2005-07-14T01:58:48Z")
As far as I’m aware, there’s no new developments. Google News turns up nothing worthwhile for ‘piano man’ for the last couple of weeks. However, if there had/have been developments, and he has been identified, you can also expect the trail to go cold, because patient confidentialiy returns to its primary position. ---
**Author:** ![Liz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/liz/32/17737_2.png) [@Liz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liz)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-out-who-that-english-piano-guy-was/312447/3 "2005-07-14T11:32:22Z")
[The latest from July 6.](http://www.playbillarts.com/news/article/2412.html) I’ve been keeping an eye out for developments. His story really fascinates me. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-out-who-that-english-piano-guy-was/312447/4 "2005-07-14T12:41:36Z")
What a curious instance of life imitating art. This story uncannily parallels the plot of the recent English movie _Ladies in Lavender_. In that story, a classical violinist from Poland washes up on the shore of England. He doesn’t talk either (at first). ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-out-who-that-english-piano-guy-was/312447/5 "2005-07-14T12:48:31Z")
In an article in the \*Sydney Morning Herald \* a while ago, one of the doctors involved said they may never know who he is. Not promising. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-out-who-that-english-piano-guy-was/312447/6 "2005-07-14T13:30:48Z")
That just does not seem possible. How the heck can a modern European go missing? (Of course, the events seem to be proving my contention wrong. Still it seems it ought not to be possible.) ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-out-who-that-english-piano-guy-was/312447/7 "2005-07-14T13:47:50Z")
So, he can’t speak. Can he _write?_ ---
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-out-who-that-english-piano-guy-was/312447/8 "2005-07-14T14:16:17Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > That just does not seem possible. How the heck can a modern European go missing? > > (Of course, the events seem to be proving my contention wrong. Still it seems it ought not to be possible.) Unless there is something I don’t know about Europe, I’d think it easy. What if the guy has no family (or, has long ago broken off all contact with his family), and no close friends? Let’s say that the above his true, the lease wherever he lives in runs out, and he decides to hit the road. **Who** is going to report him missing? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-out-who-that-english-piano-guy-was/312447/9 "2005-07-14T14:26:54Z")
I’ll bet if they threatened him with a cricket bat he’d talk. Kidding! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-out-who-that-english-piano-guy-was/312447/10 "2005-07-14T15:09:26Z")
Direct deposit, national health records, national ID cards (until recently) conscription paperwork, plus he is a piano player! This does not seem hard at all, although I admit I am obviously wrong. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-out-who-that-english-piano-guy-was/312447/11 "2005-07-14T16:41:43Z")
There’s thousands of missing people, and hundreds of unidentified bodies, in the [UK alone](http://www.missingpersons.org/default.asp). ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-out-who-that-english-piano-guy-was/312447/12 "2005-07-14T16:46:11Z")
> [@Enola Straight](#): > > So, he can’t speak. > > Can he _write?_ Yeah, he’s perfectly able to write who is is, what happened, etc, they just haven’t found a pen yet. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-out-who-that-english-piano-guy-was/312447/13 "2005-07-14T16:49:07Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > Direct deposit, national health records, national ID cards (until recently) conscription paperwork, plus he is a piano player! This does not seem hard at all, although I admit I am obviously wrong. This all helps identify him for certain once they have a country and name for the man. But without that I don’t think there are searchable biometric databases of photos or fingerprints that might find him by brute force unless he has a criminal record. Also has there been any report other than the original as to how good his piano playing is, is he really of professional standard? If not then even that clue won’t help identify him too easily. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-out-who-that-english-piano-guy-was/312447/14 "2005-07-14T16:49:30Z")
Very strange. I recall CBC Radio had a short bit on him on ‘As It Happens’ a few months back. It was remarked that a [person with amnesia](http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2001/06/07/canada/amnesia010607) with ID for a ‘Philip Staufen’ having a British accent had turned up a few years back in Vancouver, but was at that time missing again. (The [pictures](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4557619.stm) don’t really match IMHO though). This [page from CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/05/29/uk.pianoman/) has no shortage of possible IDs drawn from missing trained pianists (though the leading theory from that page appears to have been [refuted](http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/06/01/uk.pianoman/?section=cnn_latest)). ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-out-who-that-english-piano-guy-was/312447/15 "2005-07-14T16:50:35Z")
> [@Bippy the Beardless](#): > > Also has there been any report other than the original as to how good his piano playing is, is he really of professional standard? If not then even that clue won’t help identify him too easily. Some of the later reports said he was nothing more than a good amateur. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2005, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-out-who-that-english-piano-guy-was/312447/16 "2005-08-22T13:26:54Z")
From today’s [BBC](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/kent/4172662.stm): > [@](#): > > The so-called Piano Man found wandering in April has been released from hospital after his condition improved. > > A national newspaper reported on Monday the man finally broke his silence, stated he was German, and flew home. > > West Kent NHS and Social Care Trust would not comment because of patient confidentiality but the German government confirmed he was Bavarian. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2005, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-out-who-that-english-piano-guy-was/312447/17 "2005-08-22T13:48:44Z")
Dang – not a lot of answers, are there? I wonder if we’ll ever find out the _real_ story (cue cheesy progression of ominous chords – played, with a talented-amateur level of success, on a grand piano). ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2005, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-out-who-that-english-piano-guy-was/312447/18 "2005-08-22T14:54:17Z")
From the [BBC](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/4172662.stm) > [@](#): > > It was reported that health and social workers said they were “stunned” when he proceeded to give them a virtuoso performance. > > However, newspaper reports now suggest he was only able to play one note continuously. It appears that the English public is easily impressed… ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2005, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-out-who-that-english-piano-guy-was/312447/19 "2005-08-22T14:55:17Z")
The press seems to have got the piano thing wrong, too ([cite](http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/tm_objectid=15882241%26method=full%26siteid=94762-name_page.html)). It seems he acquired the ‘piano man’ nickname at the hospital by _drawing_ a piano when given pen and paper. It seems the media heard “piano” and took it from there… ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2005, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-out-who-that-english-piano-guy-was/312447/20 "2005-08-22T19:29:12Z")
Radio 4 were this evening sceptical about the Mirror’s claims, as you would expect them to be. ‘An insider’ is hardly the most reliable of cites. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-they-ever-find-out-who-that-english-piano-guy-was/312447.md?page=2)