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Impostor
- Impostor (1953) is also the name of a short story by Philip K. Dick and of a 2002 film, starring Gary Sinise, that is based on the short story.
An impostor (or imposter, a common variant) is a person who pretends to be somebody else.
Most impostors try to gain financial or social advantages. Pretenders for various thrones used to be common. Numerous men claimed they were Dauphin, heir to the French throne who disappeared during the French Revolution. There were at least two false Dimitris who were serious pretenders for the throne of Russia.
Very daring impostors may pretend to be someone else who really exists although fast news media has made this rather difficult in these days. Usually they just misrepresent their financial, educational or social status, family background and in some cases, their gender.
Impostors are usually aware of not being who they say they are; they are not the proverbial lunatics who think they are Napoleon. However there are borderline cases who may have ended up believing their own tall tales.
People may make false claims about their past or background—that they can sing, for example—without being full-blown impostors; non-existent military service seems common. Only if a significant part of their past is fabricated—like that of George Dupre who claimed to have been an SOE agent in World War II—they approach the admittedly hazy border.
Many temporary impostors are criminals who maintain the façade for a time of a caper to defraud their victims (like Wilhelm Voigt). Others, like US prankster Joey Skaggs, do it as a prank or to make a point of some kind. The latter usually reveal the truth sooner or later. Some, like John Howard Griffin, have adopted other identity for purposes of research, investigation or experiment.
Note that although impostors usually misrepresent their background, their intentions may not be criminal as such. They may wish to start anew with a new identity or "go native"; i.e. adopt identity and customs of other people. Sometimes women have masqueraded as men to obtain privileges only men can have or work in male-dominated professions (see James Barry). Some of them have fought as men at least in Napoleonic Wars and American Civil War.
Sometimes an organization (or even individual) who has been fooled keeps quiet to avoid the embarrassment and therefore allows the impostor try the same thing elsewhere.
Of course, the most successful impostors are those whose duplicity is never revealed so that we know nothing about them.
Notable impostors
Fraudsters
Exotic impostors
Royal impostors
People who tried to begin anew
- Martin Hewitt, who became a university professor without real credentials
- Brian MacKinnon, who went back to being a teenager in order to re-enter medical school
People who "went native"
Multiple impostors
Women who lived as men
Many women in history, who may not have been transgendered, have presented themselves as men in order to advance in typically male-dominated fields. See also: Crossdressing during wartime
Military Impostors
- Wes Cooley, US Congressman who claimed to have fought in the Korean War
- Brian Dennehy, American actor who claimed to have fought in the Vietnam War
- George Dupre, claimed that he had been working for Special Operations Executive and the French Resistance during World War II
- Joseph Ellis, American professor and historian who claimed a tour of duty in the Vietnam War, but only served in America
- Tim Johnson, former Toronto Blue Jays manager who claimed to have killed children in the Vietnam War, but never saw combat
- Charlie Holland, former president of Writers Guild of America claimed to be in the Green Berets
- Douglas R. Stringfellow, former congressman from Utah who claimed to serve in the Office of Strategic Services during World War II
- Micah Wright, anti-war activist who claimed to be an Army Ranger involved in Panama and several covert operations
Others
- Mary Carleton amongst other things a false princess and genuine bigamist.
- Bampfylde Moore Carew was a Devonshire man whose popular Life and Adventures included picaresque episodes of vagabond life included his claim to have been elected King of the Beggars.
- Will Not, who received emails meant for HRH Prince William. He turned them into a website, willnot.co.uk, which explores the nature of celebrity, royalty and online fandom.
- Roberto Coppola, Italian fake priest
- Count Dante, real name John Keehan. Many do not recognize his rationale for assuming the title and allegedly rightful name of Spanish nobility. In his campaign to promote his system of martial arts, he also claimed victories in various secret deathmatches in Asia and mercenary activity in Cuba, none of which carried documented proof.
- Chevalier d'Eon who lived the second half of his life as a woman.
- Frederick Rolfe, better known as Baron Corvo
- Robert Hendy-Freegard, fake MI5 officer
- John Howard Griffin who darkened his skin and travelled in the American South as a black man in 1959, later written as Black Like Me
- Pavel Jerdanowitch, father of the Disumbrationist movement
- Ashida Kim believed by many to be Caucasian author and self proclaimed ninja Christopher Hunter who wrote numerous books on ninjutsu during the 70s and 80s. Noted for refusing to provide details about his teachers or the lineage of the martial art in which he claims expertise.
- James of Julich, ecclesiastical impostor
- Louis de Rougemont, who claimed to be an explorer
- Steven Jay Russell, US judge impostor
- Treva Throneberry who became a younger Brianna Steward
- Paulus Tigrinus, fake patriarch of Constantinople
- Arnaud du Tilh, who took the place of Martin Guerre
- Binjamin Wilkomirski, fake Holocaust survivor
Books
- Sarah Burton: Impostors - Six kinds of liar
See also
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