Imposters, Past and Present

“NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Many a visitor to New York's Museum of Modern Art has probably thought, "I could do that." A British graffiti artist who goes by the name "Banksy" went one step further, by smuggling in his own picture of a soup can and hanging it on a wall, where it stayed for more than three days earlier this month before anybody noticed.”

What a great concept.

Dire Straits’ “In the Gallery” summed up the difficulties of getting ones’ art into museums. So why not just slip in and hang your own stuff up?

We, as a society, have long been intrigued by pretenders.

George Plimpton’s gritty classic “Paper Lion” made us reconsider our youthful dreams of playing in the NFL.

Frank Abignale Jr.'s life was the plot for 2002’s hit movie Catch me if You Can. A pretend doctor, airline pilot, lawyer, and who can remember what else made us all think “Why couldn’t I pull that off?”

Prior to Abignale, another impostor captured the attention of the world. Stanley Clifford Weyman, born in 1890, was a master impostor who made Abignale look like an amateur.

Among his impostures were:

Ambassador to Morocco
Military attaché from Serbia and US Navy lieutenant (so the identities could use each other as reference)
Consul general for Romania
Lieutenant in the Army Air Corps
Company doctor in Lima, Peru
State Department Naval Liaison Officer
Pola Negri’s personal physician (he frequently held press conferences updating her condition after lover Rudolph Valentino’s funeral)
Journalist for the United Nations

In August 1960, Weyman was killed when he tried to stop a robbery in a New York hotel. He was working as a night porter. He should have stuck with fantasy work.

So here’s to imposters who hold our fascination. Hey! Maybe I could slip a manuscript into the editor’s inbox at the New Yorker!