is there a basis for the ‘famous imposter’ idea? like, the guy who was a great surgeon or ship captain, but was in fact a regular shlub with a wonderful ability to go with the flow?
thanks,
jb
By “regular shlub”, do you mean a regular caliber captain or surgeon, or a regular individual, who really had no skills at all, but just winged it?
If it’s the latter, Reader’s Digest had an article earlier this year (about 5-6 months ago?) about a guy who was a practicing physician for many years, without actually going to medical school. Not so famous, but still interesting
I think the model for The Great Impostor was someone earlier, but if your interested in that sort of thing, Frank Abignale is one you might look up.
Tony Curtis did the movie
Waldo Demura, Jr.is the one you’re looking for.
Frank Abagnale was famous for impersonating pilots. Which was pretty brazen considering he didn’t know how to fly a plane. He could fake it well, however, and used this skill to fly around the country free as an “off duty” pilot. He also used his supposed credentials as a airline pilot to write a large number of bogus checks.
Ferdinand Waldo Demara, on the other hand, seemed to impersonate people for the sport of it rather than direct financial gain. He basically seemed to desire the respect that he would receive as a member of an honored profession; but he didn’t see the need to actually go through the work of entering these professions legitimately. During his lifetime, he was known to have impersonated an accountant, a college professor, an engineer, a military officer, a monk, a prison warden, a school teacher, and a surgeon.
sweet. thanks a lot, everybody.
jb
When I was in law school, I remember reading about a couple of folks practicing as lawyers without having gone to law school.
–Cliffy