I found that name in the index of “Cinemania '94,” a movie encyclopedia in CD-ROM form, as a pseudonym used when a studio was too embarrassed by a movie to identify the real director (or the director himself was too embarrassed.) 
Really? I thought he was just an innocent little cartoon mouse. 
I have no cites, but I’ve seen it posted here on the boards that Jesus is, in fact, one of the least well-documented religious figures around, and that there’s next to no firsthand evidence of his existence, especially compared to political figures like Julius Caesar and Herod.
Again, no cites. I’m not a historical scholar. But it’s been posted as fact here on the boards.
That’s the sort of thing a layman would say. Real historians do not consider eyewitness testimony to be essential in establishing someone’s existence, especially with regard to ancient history. So even if you grant that there are no firsthand accounts of his existence (a statement with which I disagree), there is still ample evidence to that effect – a rather generous amount by the standards of ancient history, in fact.
I’m not sure anybody thought he was actually real. Anyway, I think I remember reading that he was mostly based on Carlo Gambino.
If you’re in Italy, you can visit the “Tomb of Juliet”, from “Romeo and Juliet”. I honestly can’t remember where it is, although one assumes it’s in Verona.
Huh?!? What?
Why is everyone looking at me like that?
How about Abdul al-Hazred?
Yes, there may have been a Necronomicon, but no, it was not written by a mad Arab. Just a figment of HPL’s imagination.
This thread makes my head hurt. So many people once thought existed, don’t after all. walks out of thread, holding head
I just finished another “serial novel” called Naked Came the Phoenix, edited by Marcia Talley and written chapter-by-chapter by thirteen well-known female mystery writers. (Not a bad book, given the difficulties.) In the intro, Talley mentions The Floating Admiral by “Certain Members of the Detection Club” in 1931. Stranger came out of the Long Island Newsday offices, and Manatee was first serialized in the Miami Herald. As she points out, if any book with a Naked Came … title claims a single author, that person probably doesn’t exist.
The ancient Gaelic poet Ossian, as hoaxed by James MacPherson beginning in 1760.
The medieval poet “Thomas Rowley”, as hoaxed by Thomas Chatterton in 1769.
In Uncle Cecil’s column about “Who was the worst Catholic saint?” he describes how some traditional saints were demoted in the 20th century due to doubts as to either their stories or their very existence.
From the standpoint of the clause in the U. S. Constitution vesting the power of copyright protection in Congress, books like Naked Came the Stranger–same as any other book whose author’s identity is contrived for fraudulent purposes–should be denied copyright ("…to promote…the useful arts…") Naked Came the Stranger was (according to a contemporary account) a joke. It should not have been granted copyright and I will say that face to face with the authors who contrived it. It’s the same with the Tom Swift and Nancy Drew books, whose named authors are fictitious (and certainly not an example for children who would read them).
I think I’ve got a good one that hasn’t been mentioned yet: Émile Ajar. He was a French author who wrote four novels, one of them even claiming the Prix Goncourt, the most prestigious French literary prize.
From his first novel, critics suspected that the previously unheard-of Ajar might be a pseudonym for someone else. Indeed, he was a creation of the very famous author, Romain Gary. However, this was only made public after Gary’s death. Gary asked one of his cousins to play the part of Ajar. When Émile Ajar won the Goncourt, Gary had already won it, which would have disqualified him since it can only be given once.
Authors taking a pseudonyms isn’t all that rare but Romain Gary went a bit farther with his Ajar character.
I thought that there were whole tomes of law and codes now that amend, expand and redefine the original powers outlined in the Constitution? And what sort of definition of ‘defraud’ are you using? Does that mean an author known for writing in one genre can’t get copyright for a work published under a pseudonym because they’re trying to avoid the image their name has attached to it from their time as a Romance writer? Or the author who uses a pseudonym, with malice of forethought, to ensure that rabid fans can’t start swamping them with phone calls at all hours of the day or night?
Sorry I’m a natural nitpicker, and if you don’t feel like going into this further, that’s fine.
Kilgore Trout.
Raul Duke.
There is always someone somewhere who thinks fictional people existed. Soap stars frequently tell of being harassed in the street by morons who can’t understand the difference between tv and real life.
Also, I always thought people called the monster “Frankenstein” because the poor bugger deserved some kind of identity. If not pocket money, frankly.
A few years ago. horror & crime writer Peter Haining wrote a bio of the “real” Sweeny Todd, conspicuous for its total lack of documentation. I’m sure the Crime Library picked it up, hopefully in a knowing continuation of the joke.