History’s most brazen imposters who pulled the wool over their victims’ eyes
The human desire for status, wealth and adventure has driven some individuals to extraordinary lengths, leading to some of the most audacious deceptions in history. Throughout the centuries, bold imposters have successfully managed to pull the wool over the eyes of high society, military officials and the general public alike.
Armed with nothing more than sheer confidence and elaborate backstories, these master manipulators proved that sometimes, a lie told with enough conviction can easily pass for the absolute truth. What makes these historical grifters so fascinating is not just the scale of their deceptions, but the ease with which their victims accepted them.
From a clean-shaven British man successfully posing as a reclusive, bearded American film director, to a cobbler’s daughter from Devon transforming herself into an exotic, kidnapped princess from the Indian Ocean, these individuals exploited the gaps in society’s scrutiny. Here, the Daily Star looks at the wildest, most jaw-dropping fake-it-till-you-make-it stunts of all time.
Eyes wide sham
Top US film director Stanley Kubrick, who directed Eyes Wide Shut, became a bit reclusive in the 1990s. British-born Alan Conway took advantage, managing to get wined and dined around the world by pretending to be the movie mogul – even offering people roles in his films. Clean-shaven, he didn’t even look like the famously bearded Kubrick and knew little about his work.
Fairway phonies
Sixteen stone postal worker Walter Danecki, from Wisconsin, US, managed to successfully pretend he was a golfing pro to play in the 1965 Open, scoring the worst round in its history. He inspired British crane driver Maurice Flitcroft to do the same at the 1976 event, having barely played the game – a story told in the 2021 film The Phantom Of The Open.
Lingo in doubt
In the early 18th century George Psalmanazar turned up in London claiming to be from the then little-known Asian island of Formosa, modern day Taiwan. He invented a language for the place and local customs, including cannibalism, even publishing a book and lecturing high society on it, before being exposed as a Frenchman.
Gun-believable
Canadian-born Sarah Edmonds moved to the US in the 1800s where she donned men’s clothes and called herself Franklin Thompson to get work. During the American Civil War, she enlisted in the Union army, fighting in several battles, until she got malaria, quietly quitting to work as a nurse.
Total cobblers
In 1817 a woman wearing exotic clothes and mumbling unintelligibly was found wandering the streets of Almondsbury, near Bristol. She’d claim to be Princess Caraboo, from an island in the Indian Ocean, who’d been kidnapped by pirates, but escaped.
She was finally recognised as Mary Willcocks, a cobbler’s daughter from Devon.
Bad sport
British prankster Karl Power dressed up in sports kit to wangle his way on to the winner’s podium at a Grand Prix, play tennis on Centre Court at Wimbledon and, in 2001, pose alongside the Man Utd team for a photo as a player before the side’s match against Bayern Munich.
Plane sight
Frank Abagnale conned his way into roles as a lawyer and physician as well as flying free across the US as a passenger and faking it as a pilot. Leonardo DiCaprio played him in 2002 film Catch Me If You Can, above.
Hocus POTUS
American Stanley Clifford Weyman posed as military leaders and public officials for kicks. In 1921, he organised a meeting between an Afghan princess and US President Warren Harding at the White House. He said: “One man’s life is a boring thing. I lived many lives.”
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