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With no medical training.
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A Hollywood producer
whose most outrageous story
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turned out to be the
one about himself.
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And a jazz musician
whose greatest performance
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00:00:16,021 --> 00:00:20,275
was the one that
was given offstage.
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00:00:22,361 --> 00:00:25,864
What makes a person want
to become someone else?
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Is it to escape their life?
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00:00:29,076 --> 00:00:32,245
Or is it to fool someone?
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Or is there an even
more profound reason?
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00:00:35,957 --> 00:00:41,338
Well,
that is what we'll try and find out.
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As the
Korean War rages around it,
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the Royal Canadian destroyer
HMCS Cayuga brings aboard
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19 badly wounded
South Korean soldiers
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requiring immediate surgery.
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Dr. Joseph Cyr,
the ship's newly arrived physician,
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is called upon to perform
a series of procedures
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to save the men's lives.
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There's quite a few wounded men.
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They're taken on board,
and the ship captain tells Dr. Cyr,
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"You have to operate. You
have to save these guys."
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So, according to all accounts,
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Dr. Cyr takes this
relatively calmly
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and goes to it.
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While the
patients are prepped for surgery,
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Dr. Cyr reviews a
medical textbook
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in his private quarters
to prepare himself
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for what would be
the defining moment
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of not only his career,
but his entire life.
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He
Performs a number of operations
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on these wounded
South Korean soldiers,
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removing bullets,
doing chest surgery.
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And by all accounts,
he was successful.
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The story of
Dr. Cyr's valiant performance
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hit Canadian newspapers
and spread like wildfire.
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Across the country,
people read about the naval doctor's
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heroic efforts to save the lives
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of the Korean soldiers.
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But there was at least one
woman who was stunned
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00:02:26,276 --> 00:02:30,238
by the news that Dr. Joseph
Cyr had become a national hero.
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And as it turned out,
she had a very good reason
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00:02:33,033 --> 00:02:34,826
to be surprised.
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The mother of Dr. Joseph
Cyr was reading the newspaper,
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and reads this
account of her son.
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So she phones her son up,
and her son is sort of like,
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"Uh, no,
I'm still posted in New Brunswick.
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I'm not on a ship. What
are you talking about?"
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And it becomes
obvious very quickly
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that the guy on board the
destroyer is an imposter.
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The mother of the real
doctor contacts the RCMP,
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Canada's equivalent of the FBI,
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00:03:04,189 --> 00:03:06,816
and the shipboard captain
on the destroyer is told,
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00:03:06,858 --> 00:03:09,277
"Uh, well,
your surgeon is an imposter.
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Uh, we've, uh,
got to take him into custody."
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He's taken back to Canada,
he's put before a court
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that would reveal that
he's Ferdinand Demara,
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of Lawrence, Massachusetts.
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An American from Massachusetts
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masquerading as a
Canadian naval doctor
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in the Sea of Japan?
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But how?
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And why?
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Ferdinand Demara
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is a very fascinating man.
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First of all,
he came from a middle-class family.
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Very comfortable.
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00:03:42,060 --> 00:03:45,814
But then they suffered
the Great Depression,
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They had to move.
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They had to downgrade,
as it were.
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00:03:49,985 --> 00:03:51,361
They get to a poor neighborhood,
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less of the affluent or
semi-affluent amenities.
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00:03:56,199 --> 00:03:59,202
So he went from a lot to less,
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but it seemed to bother
him more than his parents,
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the best that we can tell.
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00:04:04,207 --> 00:04:08,211
And therefore,
he had to fill in the difference.
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00:04:08,295 --> 00:04:11,756
By all accounts,
he's a very smart kid.
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00:04:11,798 --> 00:04:13,842
You know, does well at school.
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But he drops out of high school,
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and he starts this weird
sort of moving around
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00:04:19,264 --> 00:04:22,058
and trying on new personas.
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00:04:22,142 --> 00:04:25,812
It turns
out that he has the ability
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to memorize very quickly.
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He even claimed that he
had a photographic memory.
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So that he could
look at something,
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say,
"That really belongs to me,"
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and with a very good intellect,
he could carry this off.
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And he found
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he could "borrow"
any kind of credential
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and become that person
represented by that credential.
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He starts
that from a very early age,
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and he joins the military,
goes AWOL,
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00:04:58,261 --> 00:05:01,306
joins other branches
of the military.
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00:05:01,348 --> 00:05:03,933
In one of his very
early impersonations,
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he pretends to be
a Trappist monk
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and joins a monastery.
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At the time he was pretending
to be a Christian monk,
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he made friends with a Canadian
doctor named Joseph Cyr,
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and he then goes to
enlist in the Canadian Navy
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and announces that
he's Dr. Joseph Cyr
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and uses the same credentials
that the real doctor had.
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There's a war going
on at the time in Korea,
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so they don't ask
too many questions.
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They're just delighted
to get a surgeon.
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In addition to posing
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as a military
surgeon and a monk,
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Demara tried his
hand at impersonating
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a number of other professions,
including
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00:05:44,224 --> 00:05:46,476
civil engineer, zoologist,
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00:05:46,559 --> 00:05:49,229
psychologist,
philosophy professor
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00:05:49,312 --> 00:05:52,982
and lawyer, among many others.
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Demara became so
adept at impersonation
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that he eventually became known
by his most famous alias of all:
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The Great Imposter.
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00:06:03,785 --> 00:06:06,454
Ironically,
Demara's life went full circle.
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After pretending to be
all these different identities
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his whole life,
in the end he became famous for who he was.
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00:06:13,545 --> 00:06:15,505
Oh,
I've been a surgeon lieutenant
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in the Royal Canadian Navy.
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-You operated on
people? -Mm-hmm.
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Isn't that rather dangerous?
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-You might say that. -Uh-huh.
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00:06:25,181 --> 00:06:27,183
Where did you steal
your new credentials?
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-I acquire these things. -Oh.
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00:06:29,352 --> 00:06:30,812
I know. You keep
telling me that.
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00:06:30,895 --> 00:06:34,023
I hate to bring the word
"steal" into this conversation.
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He appeared on You
Bet Your Life with Groucho Marx,
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and he makes it clear
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00:06:39,237 --> 00:06:42,157
that he, "acquired credentials,"
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00:06:42,198 --> 00:06:45,160
and that he's going
to use his prize money
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00:06:45,243 --> 00:06:47,579
to buy more credentials.
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00:06:47,662 --> 00:06:49,914
Were you in jail in... in,
uh, Canada?
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00:06:49,998 --> 00:06:52,417
-No, no. -In the United States,
have you ever been in jail?
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00:06:52,500 --> 00:06:54,836
Yes,
I have been in jail. I spent a year
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in the Texas State Penitentiary.
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00:06:56,671 --> 00:06:58,673
-Well, it's about time, I... -
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that somebody nails you.
136
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What were you in there for?
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00:07:01,509 --> 00:07:04,137
Uh,
I was in there as deputy warden.
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00:07:05,972 --> 00:07:07,766
As a result of that,
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00:07:07,849 --> 00:07:09,184
everybody wants to meet him,
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00:07:09,267 --> 00:07:11,603
wants to talk about him,
wants to hear about him.
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00:07:11,686 --> 00:07:13,605
-Are you Martin Goddard? -Yes,
I am.
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And your real name is
Ferdinand Waldo Demara Jr.?
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00:07:16,524 --> 00:07:18,485
And then when Tony Curtis acted
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in The Great Imposter,
he became famous
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because he could fool the world.
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In many respects,
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00:07:27,035 --> 00:07:28,828
to be an imposter is...
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fairly normal,
although we think of them as...
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somehow pathological.
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00:07:35,001 --> 00:07:38,588
In fact,
there are many people who do it for work.
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00:07:38,671 --> 00:07:41,341
Actors are a form of imposters.
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There are people who put
on a costume or a uniform
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to transform themselves
in some way that gives them
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some measure of
authority in their work.
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Let's face
it: at one time or another,
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00:07:53,728 --> 00:07:56,648
most of us have fantasized
about trying on a new identity.
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Like when we engage
in role-playing games
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00:08:00,443 --> 00:08:02,821
or wear costumes on Halloween.
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00:08:02,904 --> 00:08:04,823
For most of us, of course,
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00:08:04,906 --> 00:08:08,201
the fantasy remains
simply that: a fantasy.
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But in the case of
Ferdinand Demara,
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The Great Imposter,
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by pretending to be a surgeon,
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is it possible that-- in his mind,
at least--
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he actually became one?
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Ferdinand Demara
impersonated a surgeon.
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He wasn't a surgeon,
but during the Korean War
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while he was on a ship,
he saved lives.
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00:08:28,471 --> 00:08:30,598
His ability to adapt
from impersonation
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might have given
him the ability to adapt
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under a stressful situation.
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"Con man," of course,
"con" is a kind of a nickname.
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The origin of that
word is "confidence."
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In the case of someone
like Ferdinand Demara,
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because of his success
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in being able to truly believe
every one of his fantasies
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as one new piece of reality,
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he can act it out
in such a real way
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00:09:01,087 --> 00:09:03,423
for a limited period of time.
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00:09:04,674 --> 00:09:06,593
By the time of his death,
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00:09:06,676 --> 00:09:09,888
from a heart attack on June 7,
1982,
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00:09:09,971 --> 00:09:13,182
Ferdinand Demara had spent
the last several years of his life
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as a Baptist minister
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00:09:14,851 --> 00:09:18,396
and later a counselor at
Good Samaritan Hospital
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in Anaheim, California.
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00:09:20,690 --> 00:09:25,194
In his obituary, Demara's lawyer
and good friend, Melvin Belli,
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00:09:25,278 --> 00:09:27,572
is quoted as saying...
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And why should there be?
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After all, most of us can
only live one life at a time.
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00:09:37,498 --> 00:09:41,794
Ferdinand Demara
was able to live several.
191
00:09:50,678 --> 00:09:52,430
Chris! Chris, Chris!
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00:09:52,513 --> 00:09:54,557
French movie
producer Christopher Reyes
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is the talk of Tinseltown.
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00:09:56,935 --> 00:09:58,770
Where's the girls tonight?
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00:10:00,521 --> 00:10:01,731
Between a movie deal
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00:10:01,814 --> 00:10:04,651
with action star
Jean-Claude Van Damme,
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00:10:04,734 --> 00:10:08,363
co-ownership of two chic
Beverly Hills boutiques,
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00:10:08,446 --> 00:10:11,658
a perfume line endorsed
by singer Michael Jackson
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00:10:11,741 --> 00:10:15,495
and a Playboy Playmate wife,
200
00:10:15,536 --> 00:10:19,374
it appears Reyes's
burgeoning reputation
201
00:10:19,457 --> 00:10:21,292
as a Hollywood player is secure.
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00:10:21,376 --> 00:10:22,710
Thanks, Chris.
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00:10:22,794 --> 00:10:24,087
-Good to see you. -All right.
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00:10:25,755 --> 00:10:28,633
He would mix with some of
the movers and shakers in L. A.
205
00:10:28,716 --> 00:10:31,803
Uh, so he'd throw kind of
glamorous dinner parties.
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00:10:31,844 --> 00:10:34,806
He'd invite all of his
friends that he'd met,
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00:10:34,847 --> 00:10:37,167
and he'd make sure that they
saw that he was being generous
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00:10:37,225 --> 00:10:38,476
during these parties.
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00:10:38,518 --> 00:10:40,561
He said he was a
venture capitalist.
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00:10:40,645 --> 00:10:43,398
He was in L. A. and he was
mixing with the kind of people
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00:10:43,481 --> 00:10:44,983
who are also millionaires.
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00:10:45,066 --> 00:10:49,320
He would talk of how he
was Sophia Loren's son,
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00:10:49,362 --> 00:10:52,323
he was Oscar de la Renta's nephew,
and there was no reason
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00:10:52,407 --> 00:10:53,658
for people to disbelieve him.
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00:10:53,741 --> 00:10:55,618
He would maybe say,
"Do you want to invest?
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00:10:55,702 --> 00:10:57,954
He'd give them an opportunity,
and they would think
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00:10:58,037 --> 00:11:00,665
that they were gonna
get something from him.
218
00:11:00,748 --> 00:11:02,333
Chris! Let's go.
219
00:11:02,417 --> 00:11:05,628
To everyone he meets,
it seems Christopher Reyes
220
00:11:05,712 --> 00:11:08,715
has perfected the recipe
for Hollywood success.
221
00:11:08,798 --> 00:11:12,677
Except there's one
key ingredient missing.
222
00:11:12,760 --> 00:11:15,722
Because, as it turns out,
the man claiming
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00:11:15,805 --> 00:11:19,142
to be Christopher
Reyes is a bigger fiction
224
00:11:19,183 --> 00:11:22,645
than any conceived by a
Hollywood screenwriter.
225
00:11:22,687 --> 00:11:25,523
He is actually a
notorious French con artist
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00:11:25,606 --> 00:11:29,235
named Christophe Rocancourt.
227
00:11:29,318 --> 00:11:32,905
Well, Rocancourt was the world's
coolest con man, in essence.
228
00:11:32,989 --> 00:11:36,993
Um, you know, he was smooth,
he was charismatic.
229
00:11:37,035 --> 00:11:38,828
He was ambitious.
230
00:11:38,911 --> 00:11:41,622
So,
he had all the traits of a classic con man.
231
00:11:41,706 --> 00:11:43,624
By all accounts,
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00:11:43,708 --> 00:11:47,670
Christophe's approach was very simple,
but direct.
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00:11:47,712 --> 00:11:50,048
He would tell people,
you know "If you invest
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00:11:50,131 --> 00:11:52,800
in my various enterprises,"
235
00:11:52,884 --> 00:11:55,470
you know,
"I can vastly increase your money."
236
00:11:55,511 --> 00:11:58,639
So his methods
were not terribly,
237
00:11:58,723 --> 00:12:01,476
you know, sophisticated,
but they worked,
238
00:12:01,517 --> 00:12:04,771
and he pulled in a lot
of money from people.
239
00:12:08,191 --> 00:12:11,319
In Paris,
he'd set up this alias for himself,
240
00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:12,945
a wealthy Russian nobleman.
241
00:12:13,029 --> 00:12:16,240
From just sheer
confidence and imagination,
242
00:12:16,324 --> 00:12:20,161
he was able to pull off a few scams. Uh,
most notably,
243
00:12:20,244 --> 00:12:23,581
when he managed to forge
the deeds to a building in Paris
244
00:12:23,664 --> 00:12:25,833
and sell it for over
a million dollars.
245
00:12:25,917 --> 00:12:28,044
As he scammed
his way across Europe,
246
00:12:28,127 --> 00:12:31,464
Christophe Rocancourt
defrauded dozens of victims
247
00:12:31,547 --> 00:12:33,633
under numerous aliases.
248
00:12:33,716 --> 00:12:35,802
But while authorities
had a mountain of lies
249
00:12:35,885 --> 00:12:38,805
and fake identities
to sort through,
250
00:12:38,846 --> 00:12:42,517
they were missing
one elusive truth:
251
00:12:42,600 --> 00:12:44,602
who actually was
252
00:12:44,685 --> 00:12:47,188
Christophe Rocancourt?
253
00:12:50,233 --> 00:12:52,527
Rocancourt grew up,
um, in a small town
254
00:12:52,610 --> 00:12:54,278
on the Normandy coast,
255
00:12:54,362 --> 00:12:56,823
uh, just where the-the River
Seine meets the English Channel.
256
00:12:56,864 --> 00:12:59,450
Uh, it's a lovely place, um,
257
00:12:59,534 --> 00:13:01,702
but he didn't have
the best childhood.
258
00:13:02,537 --> 00:13:04,997
His father was an alcoholic
259
00:13:05,039 --> 00:13:08,626
and his mother had
to resort to prostitution.
260
00:13:08,709 --> 00:13:12,839
Here is a young person who is in
261
00:13:12,922 --> 00:13:17,218
a desperate survival mode
from the earliest stages.
262
00:13:17,301 --> 00:13:22,223
This kind of person really
has no reason to trust the world.
263
00:13:22,306 --> 00:13:25,143
And so he found out
264
00:13:25,226 --> 00:13:30,398
that he can acquire
wealth by deceptive means.
265
00:13:30,481 --> 00:13:32,441
There's no reason
for him to feel sorry
266
00:13:32,525 --> 00:13:34,902
about the next person,
'cause in his mind,
267
00:13:34,986 --> 00:13:37,864
presumably,
no one felt sorry for him.
268
00:13:39,323 --> 00:13:41,826
I think
the game had its own reward.
269
00:13:41,909 --> 00:13:43,494
This is a very hostile game,
270
00:13:43,536 --> 00:13:45,830
and this is a wounded,
aggressive person.
271
00:13:45,872 --> 00:13:49,000
He wanted to hurt people.
He wanted to take their money.
272
00:13:49,041 --> 00:13:52,712
It was a coldhearted
transaction.
273
00:13:54,046 --> 00:13:56,757
For most people,
the notion of scamming
274
00:13:56,841 --> 00:14:00,052
and conniving their way
to wealth and happiness
275
00:14:00,136 --> 00:14:01,345
is unthinkable.
276
00:14:01,429 --> 00:14:05,641
So, what drives serial impostors
277
00:14:05,725 --> 00:14:08,644
like Christophe Rocancourt
to use impersonation
278
00:14:08,686 --> 00:14:11,647
to not merely pretend
to be someone else,
279
00:14:11,689 --> 00:14:14,275
but to actually inflict harm?
280
00:14:14,358 --> 00:14:19,947
And not just once or twice,
but over and over again?
281
00:14:20,031 --> 00:14:21,991
For a lot of
impostors that grow up
282
00:14:22,074 --> 00:14:24,160
in a damaged childhood
where they're facing abuse
283
00:14:24,202 --> 00:14:26,829
or traumatic events,
they have to develop
284
00:14:26,913 --> 00:14:28,998
these sort of coping mechanisms.
285
00:14:29,081 --> 00:14:32,210
One,
they start to see themselves on the outside
286
00:14:32,293 --> 00:14:34,879
of the normal reality
that everyone else does.
287
00:14:34,962 --> 00:14:36,756
The society as a norm is here,
288
00:14:36,797 --> 00:14:38,382
and they're on
the outskirts of that.
289
00:14:38,466 --> 00:14:41,510
So, then they start to
categorize people as others.
290
00:14:41,594 --> 00:14:43,304
The second is that
they have to be able
291
00:14:43,346 --> 00:14:45,681
to anticipate the
actions of their abuser.
292
00:14:45,765 --> 00:14:47,808
So,
this starts to form an unusual kind
293
00:14:47,850 --> 00:14:51,312
of predictive empathy in
order for them to survive.
294
00:14:56,359 --> 00:14:59,153
No matter the
reason for their duplicity,
295
00:14:59,195 --> 00:15:01,489
once discovered,
most impostors' lives
296
00:15:01,572 --> 00:15:03,783
are shattered beyond repair.
297
00:15:03,866 --> 00:15:05,743
But while you
might think someone
298
00:15:05,826 --> 00:15:08,537
as internationally notorious
as Christophe Rocancourt
299
00:15:08,621 --> 00:15:09,914
would stop his antics
300
00:15:09,997 --> 00:15:15,169
after being so thoroughly exposed,
well,
301
00:15:15,211 --> 00:15:17,088
you'd be wrong.
302
00:15:17,171 --> 00:15:19,715
Eventually things came
tumbling down when people
303
00:15:19,799 --> 00:15:21,676
started suspecting
that he was a fraud.
304
00:15:21,759 --> 00:15:25,054
So when he moved
from L. A. to New York,
305
00:15:25,137 --> 00:15:26,806
Rocancourt was
running the same scams
306
00:15:26,889 --> 00:15:28,140
as he always had done.
307
00:15:28,182 --> 00:15:30,142
He was having
lavish dinner parties,
308
00:15:30,184 --> 00:15:32,353
he was inviting
exclusive guests.
309
00:15:32,436 --> 00:15:34,647
He was getting them to
invest large sums of money,
310
00:15:34,730 --> 00:15:37,316
$50,000 or a $100,000 at a time.
311
00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:40,319
I think people started
suspecting Rocancourt
312
00:15:40,361 --> 00:15:43,781
when a few things
just stopped adding up.
313
00:15:43,864 --> 00:15:46,909
He was driving a Mazda
rather than the kind of car
314
00:15:46,993 --> 00:15:49,078
that you'd expect a
millionaire to be driving.
315
00:15:49,161 --> 00:15:50,913
He tasted some wine
that was cheap wine,
316
00:15:50,997 --> 00:15:53,165
and he thought it
was expensive wine.
317
00:15:53,249 --> 00:15:55,251
Maybe he was
just getting sloppy.
318
00:15:55,334 --> 00:15:57,962
And it was an unpaid
hotel bill in the end
319
00:15:58,045 --> 00:16:01,299
that was the thing
that got him caught.
320
00:16:01,340 --> 00:16:05,636
In 2003,
Christophe Rocancourt plead guilty
321
00:16:05,678 --> 00:16:09,932
to charges of bribery,
theft and fraud.
322
00:16:10,016 --> 00:16:13,978
He was ordered to pay
$1.2 million to his victims
323
00:16:14,061 --> 00:16:17,773
and sentenced to 46
months in federal prison.
324
00:16:17,857 --> 00:16:21,402
After his release
in October 2005,
325
00:16:21,485 --> 00:16:23,070
Rocancourt returned to Europe
326
00:16:23,154 --> 00:16:25,948
where his notoriety as a
smooth-talking con man
327
00:16:26,032 --> 00:16:28,909
continued to make headlines.
328
00:16:28,993 --> 00:16:32,788
But Rocancourt's deceptions
appear almost benign
329
00:16:32,872 --> 00:16:36,000
when compared to those
of another famous impostor,
330
00:16:36,042 --> 00:16:39,337
one who became so
desperate to hide his true identity
331
00:16:39,378 --> 00:16:42,673
that it not only cost
people their fortunes,
332
00:16:42,715 --> 00:16:50,715
it also cost them their lives.
333
00:16:55,644 --> 00:16:59,065
Sandra Boss,
a recent Harvard Business School graduate,
334
00:16:59,148 --> 00:17:02,943
marries Clark Rockefeller,
a man who is known to her
335
00:17:03,027 --> 00:17:05,654
as a member of
one of the wealthiest
336
00:17:05,738 --> 00:17:07,948
and most powerful
families in America.
337
00:17:09,784 --> 00:17:11,494
After the couple's
fairy-tale wedding,
338
00:17:11,577 --> 00:17:12,953
Sandra went to work
339
00:17:13,037 --> 00:17:15,247
for a prestigious
consulting firm in Boston
340
00:17:15,373 --> 00:17:19,335
while Clark resumed working
on international poverty relief.
341
00:17:19,377 --> 00:17:22,254
But the fairy tale
didn't last long.
342
00:17:22,338 --> 00:17:25,174
He claimed he was
working on so many high-level things,
343
00:17:25,257 --> 00:17:28,010
but he wasn't contributing
to the marriage financially.
344
00:17:28,094 --> 00:17:30,763
And he said, "Well,
to charge these struggling countries
345
00:17:30,846 --> 00:17:33,182
a fee would be, you know,
unconscionable."
346
00:17:33,265 --> 00:17:36,977
He didn't seem to want to
go out and get a regular job.
347
00:17:37,019 --> 00:17:40,439
And so she was
beginning to get tired of this.
348
00:17:43,526 --> 00:17:45,326
After more
than ten years of marriage,
349
00:17:45,403 --> 00:17:48,656
Sandra Boss finally had
enough and filed for divorce.
350
00:17:48,781 --> 00:17:52,243
It was a decision that would
not only unravel her marriage,
351
00:17:52,326 --> 00:17:57,706
but also unravel the strange
truth about her husband.
352
00:17:57,790 --> 00:17:59,417
Clark Rockefeller had
353
00:17:59,542 --> 00:18:03,003
no passport, no credit cards,
no birth certificate
354
00:18:03,129 --> 00:18:05,131
that she could find.
355
00:18:05,214 --> 00:18:07,134
She can't come
up with any documentation.
356
00:18:07,258 --> 00:18:10,136
So she really has the whip
hand during the divorce,
357
00:18:10,261 --> 00:18:14,348
and she ends up winning
custody of their daughter, Snooks.
358
00:18:14,432 --> 00:18:18,144
He's absolutely gobsmacked by this,
and he's miserable,
359
00:18:18,227 --> 00:18:20,855
because he is actually
devoted to his daughter.
360
00:18:20,938 --> 00:18:22,815
So he comes up with
this harebrained plan
361
00:18:22,898 --> 00:18:25,693
and he kidnaps his daughter.
362
00:18:25,776 --> 00:18:27,695
The FBI immediately launched
363
00:18:27,778 --> 00:18:29,280
a nationwide manhunt,
364
00:18:29,363 --> 00:18:33,033
but Clark Rockefeller
had vanished into thin air.
365
00:18:33,159 --> 00:18:35,870
And the reason the
authorities had such a hard time
366
00:18:35,953 --> 00:18:37,872
tracking down Clark Rockefeller
367
00:18:37,955 --> 00:18:39,748
was because
368
00:18:39,832 --> 00:18:43,335
there was no Clark Rockefeller.
369
00:18:43,419 --> 00:18:46,046
So,
I'm at home. My brother calls me.
370
00:18:46,130 --> 00:18:49,717
He goes,
"Turn on CNN right now."
371
00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:53,721
I turn on the TV,
and I look, and I go,
372
00:18:53,804 --> 00:18:56,640
"That's Christian
Gerhartsreiter."
373
00:18:56,724 --> 00:18:59,310
And it says right across the top,
"Clark Rockefeller."
374
00:18:59,351 --> 00:19:01,896
So we called the FBI and said,
375
00:19:01,979 --> 00:19:03,439
"This is Christian
Gerhartsreiter."
376
00:19:03,522 --> 00:19:06,358
He was a German exchange
student that came to our house.
377
00:19:06,442 --> 00:19:08,652
I was 15 at the time,
378
00:19:08,694 --> 00:19:12,156
and he was 17.
379
00:19:12,239 --> 00:19:14,575
But the FBI, like,
they didn't even know his name.
380
00:19:15,826 --> 00:19:18,162
It was covered in all the media,
on television,
381
00:19:18,245 --> 00:19:22,917
and when the AMBER Alert was issued,
he was apprehended.
382
00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:26,462
He was returned to
Boston to face charges.
383
00:19:26,545 --> 00:19:29,298
And that's when
his incredible life
384
00:19:29,381 --> 00:19:33,594
of all these different
personas unspooled.
385
00:19:33,677 --> 00:19:36,472
At trial,
Sandra watched as her husband, the man
386
00:19:36,597 --> 00:19:40,100
she had believed to be a
member of the Rockefeller family,
387
00:19:40,184 --> 00:19:42,811
was sentenced to four
to five years in prison
388
00:19:42,853 --> 00:19:45,481
for custodial kidnapping.
389
00:19:45,523 --> 00:19:48,984
But what was it that
compelled Christian
390
00:19:49,026 --> 00:19:51,028
to lie to his friends, family
391
00:19:51,111 --> 00:19:54,031
and associates for so long?
392
00:19:55,824 --> 00:19:58,827
The phenomenon of an
impostor is an interesting dichotomy
393
00:19:58,869 --> 00:20:00,246
that somebody has to live with.
394
00:20:00,371 --> 00:20:03,207
They have two stories
constantly colliding.
395
00:20:03,290 --> 00:20:05,834
And often, if you're going to
perpetuate that consistently,
396
00:20:05,876 --> 00:20:08,295
you have to almost
have a form of delusion,
397
00:20:08,379 --> 00:20:10,398
to be able to compartmentalize
one of those realities
398
00:20:10,422 --> 00:20:12,049
so that you can live your life
399
00:20:12,132 --> 00:20:15,094
without having this other
one on the back burner.
400
00:20:15,177 --> 00:20:18,764
Are impostors who
carry out elaborate deceptions
401
00:20:18,847 --> 00:20:22,518
acting out a kind
of wish fantasy?
402
00:20:23,936 --> 00:20:25,980
And if so, how does this fantasy
403
00:20:26,021 --> 00:20:28,107
first take hold in their mind?
404
00:20:28,190 --> 00:20:31,986
For the answer,
perhaps it's best to look all the way back
405
00:20:32,069 --> 00:20:34,029
into Christian's past.
406
00:20:35,864 --> 00:20:37,700
Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter
407
00:20:37,783 --> 00:20:39,785
grew up in West Germany.
408
00:20:39,868 --> 00:20:42,496
By all accounts,
he was kind of a bit of an oddball,
409
00:20:42,580 --> 00:20:44,665
prone to fantasy,
a little on the nerdy side,
410
00:20:44,707 --> 00:20:49,003
and really wanted to
get out of West Germany.
411
00:20:49,086 --> 00:20:53,257
So in 1978,
he travels to the United States
412
00:20:53,340 --> 00:20:56,802
and shows up on the doorstep
of this family in Connecticut
413
00:20:56,885 --> 00:20:58,429
called the Savios,
414
00:20:58,512 --> 00:21:00,681
and just sort of
went into high school,
415
00:21:00,764 --> 00:21:03,434
said he was an exchange student,
and things got
416
00:21:03,517 --> 00:21:06,145
progressively
stranger from there.
417
00:21:06,228 --> 00:21:09,648
He told me that
his father created parts
418
00:21:09,690 --> 00:21:11,150
for Mercedes-Benz.
419
00:21:11,191 --> 00:21:13,152
And, of course, you know,
they had money.
420
00:21:13,193 --> 00:21:15,154
You know, servants.
421
00:21:15,237 --> 00:21:16,822
We all knew it was ridiculous.
422
00:21:16,864 --> 00:21:19,283
We laughed at it at the time.
423
00:21:20,451 --> 00:21:23,037
By 1985,
Christian had taken up residence
424
00:21:23,120 --> 00:21:24,747
on the West Coast.
425
00:21:24,830 --> 00:21:27,583
He had also taken a new name.
426
00:21:27,666 --> 00:21:30,002
He moved to San Marino,
which is a rich community
427
00:21:30,085 --> 00:21:31,337
in Southern California,
428
00:21:31,420 --> 00:21:34,298
and assumed the name
Christopher Chichester,
429
00:21:34,381 --> 00:21:37,635
and announced that he was
part of the British royal family.
430
00:21:37,718 --> 00:21:41,221
He would go get free
lunches at social clubs
431
00:21:41,305 --> 00:21:42,681
and private members clubs.
432
00:21:42,765 --> 00:21:46,226
He'd start schmoozing up
all the rich ladies in town,
433
00:21:46,352 --> 00:21:48,771
attends a very fancy church.
434
00:21:48,854 --> 00:21:51,065
Ends up living in the guesthouse
435
00:21:51,148 --> 00:21:54,985
of a local woman
named Ruth Sohus.
436
00:21:55,069 --> 00:21:56,904
He lives there rent-free,
437
00:21:56,987 --> 00:21:59,573
and all is well for a while,
but then
438
00:21:59,657 --> 00:22:04,328
Ruth's son, John,
shows up with his wife Linda.
439
00:22:04,411 --> 00:22:06,038
And John, apparently,
440
00:22:06,121 --> 00:22:09,416
was a bit suspicious of this
441
00:22:09,541 --> 00:22:11,960
strange guy living
in Mom's guesthouse.
442
00:22:12,044 --> 00:22:15,881
And then, all of a sudden,
Linda and her husband disappear.
443
00:22:15,964 --> 00:22:19,218
Soon after Linda
and John Sohus disappeared,
444
00:22:19,301 --> 00:22:21,637
so did Christopher Chichester.
445
00:22:21,679 --> 00:22:25,516
And Christian the imposter
moved back to the East Coast,
446
00:22:25,641 --> 00:22:29,687
where he would eventually live
under his most infamous alias:
447
00:22:29,770 --> 00:22:31,355
Clark Rockefeller.
448
00:22:31,438 --> 00:22:35,109
The rest, as they say,
is history.
449
00:22:35,192 --> 00:22:36,902
But not before
this bizarre story
450
00:22:37,027 --> 00:22:40,489
took yet another
unexpected twist.
451
00:22:40,614 --> 00:22:42,908
In March of 2011,
452
00:22:42,991 --> 00:22:46,370
after Christian was convicted
of kidnapping his daughter,
453
00:22:46,453 --> 00:22:49,248
authorities in California
gathered enough evidence
454
00:22:49,331 --> 00:22:51,583
to charge him with
a more serious crime
455
00:22:51,667 --> 00:22:55,546
than any he had been
charged with before:
456
00:22:55,671 --> 00:22:57,881
the 1985 murder
457
00:22:58,006 --> 00:23:00,134
of John Sohus.
458
00:23:02,052 --> 00:23:05,013
Ruth Sohus had passed away,
459
00:23:05,097 --> 00:23:07,433
and another couple
had bought her home
460
00:23:07,516 --> 00:23:09,685
and were installing
a swimming pool.
461
00:23:09,810 --> 00:23:12,438
Where
Christian lived in San Marino,
462
00:23:12,521 --> 00:23:16,358
they dug up the backyard
and discovered human remains.
463
00:23:16,442 --> 00:23:19,695
And the body was
cut up into pieces,
464
00:23:19,778 --> 00:23:21,947
but it was wearing the
same kind of clothes
465
00:23:22,030 --> 00:23:24,324
that John Sohus typically wore:
466
00:23:24,366 --> 00:23:26,326
jeans and a flannel shirt.
467
00:23:26,368 --> 00:23:30,164
And apparently,
parts were in bags from schools
468
00:23:30,205 --> 00:23:33,375
that Christian
Gerhartsreiter had attended.
469
00:23:33,459 --> 00:23:37,629
So then he was put on trial
for murdering John Sohus.
470
00:23:37,713 --> 00:23:40,174
He was found guilty,
and he is now an inmate
471
00:23:40,257 --> 00:23:42,468
in San Quentin
Prison in California.
472
00:23:42,593 --> 00:23:44,970
The police detective
that I interviewed
473
00:23:45,053 --> 00:23:46,805
said that the motive was money.
474
00:23:46,889 --> 00:23:49,516
He was to inherit a
sizable amount of money
475
00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:53,312
from Ruth Sohus,
and that's what they believed.
476
00:23:53,395 --> 00:23:56,315
And Linda Sohus had disappeared
477
00:23:56,398 --> 00:23:58,066
off the face of the earth.
478
00:23:58,150 --> 00:23:59,485
What happened to Linda?
479
00:23:59,526 --> 00:24:02,446
That's still an enduring
mystery of this case.
480
00:24:02,529 --> 00:24:04,364
Imposters like Christian,
481
00:24:04,490 --> 00:24:05,824
who are willing to lie--
482
00:24:05,866 --> 00:24:09,995
or even kill-- for the sake
of protecting an illusion,
483
00:24:10,078 --> 00:24:12,164
would certainly
seem to be troubled,
484
00:24:12,247 --> 00:24:14,416
misguided individuals.
485
00:24:14,500 --> 00:24:18,003
But if that's true,
then why do so many of us
486
00:24:18,045 --> 00:24:20,255
fall for their deceptions?
487
00:24:21,423 --> 00:24:23,300
Part of the magic story
488
00:24:23,383 --> 00:24:25,803
is using a name
like Rockefeller.
489
00:24:25,886 --> 00:24:28,847
It has a mana, a glitter to it.
490
00:24:28,931 --> 00:24:30,474
It draws people.
491
00:24:30,557 --> 00:24:33,393
And there is an
element of collusion.
492
00:24:33,519 --> 00:24:35,896
So the inability to
catch the warning signs
493
00:24:36,021 --> 00:24:39,900
has to do with the intentional
blindness of the victim.
494
00:24:39,983 --> 00:24:43,445
They want something,
and they want this story to be true,
495
00:24:43,529 --> 00:24:46,198
so they're participating.
496
00:24:46,281 --> 00:24:48,367
That's
really the secret to a con.
497
00:24:48,450 --> 00:24:50,661
It's not about manufacturing
a whole fake reality.
498
00:24:50,702 --> 00:24:52,287
Instead, it's finding the story
499
00:24:52,371 --> 00:24:54,206
that people are
telling themselves
500
00:24:54,289 --> 00:24:55,666
and just elaborating on it.
501
00:24:55,749 --> 00:24:57,584
They're able to
compartmentalize this reality,
502
00:24:57,709 --> 00:25:00,003
because they're not
worried about somebody else.
503
00:25:00,087 --> 00:25:01,880
These, together,
present opportunity
504
00:25:01,964 --> 00:25:03,841
for somebody to be very evil.
505
00:25:05,175 --> 00:25:08,428
Today, instead of
going by the name Clark Rockefeller,
506
00:25:08,512 --> 00:25:12,975
Christian is known as
inmate number AR3108
507
00:25:13,016 --> 00:25:15,686
at San Quentin State Prison.
508
00:25:15,811 --> 00:25:18,856
Hopefully,
his days of adopting false identities
509
00:25:18,939 --> 00:25:20,899
have been ended forever.
510
00:25:21,024 --> 00:25:23,819
Unlike another imposter,
511
00:25:23,861 --> 00:25:26,905
whose assumption of a
new identity was so credible
512
00:25:26,989 --> 00:25:28,657
and so enduring
513
00:25:28,699 --> 00:25:32,160
that many remain convinced
that her deception was true,
514
00:25:32,202 --> 00:25:35,706
even decades after her death.
515
00:25:40,878 --> 00:25:45,382
In the case of
impostors who have a damaged past,
516
00:25:45,465 --> 00:25:48,427
does the assumption of
a new identity help them
517
00:25:48,510 --> 00:25:51,305
to recover the details
of a forgotten life?
518
00:25:52,890 --> 00:25:56,518
Perhaps the answer can be found
by examining the case of a woman
519
00:25:56,602 --> 00:25:59,688
who many called an imposter,
520
00:25:59,771 --> 00:26:02,900
but who, until the day she died,
521
00:26:02,983 --> 00:26:05,027
insisted she was really
522
00:26:05,110 --> 00:26:08,989
a long-lost Russian princess:
523
00:26:09,031 --> 00:26:13,493
the Grand Duchess, Anastasia.
524
00:26:20,542 --> 00:26:23,378
In the aftermath of the
Bolshevik Revolution,
525
00:26:23,503 --> 00:26:26,590
the exiled emperor,
Tsar Nicholas II,
526
00:26:26,673 --> 00:26:29,843
his wife Alexandra,
and their five children
527
00:26:29,927 --> 00:26:33,472
are awakened in the
night by their captors.
528
00:26:33,555 --> 00:26:36,016
Frightened and confused,
529
00:26:36,141 --> 00:26:39,186
they are herded along with
four of their loyal servants
530
00:26:39,269 --> 00:26:42,814
into the basement
of the Ipatiev House.
531
00:26:42,856 --> 00:26:45,651
There,
while waiting for further instructions,
532
00:26:45,776 --> 00:26:48,236
a group of Soviet secret police
533
00:26:48,320 --> 00:26:51,615
enter and raise their pistols.
534
00:26:51,698 --> 00:26:55,243
The last thing the
confused family hears.
535
00:26:55,327 --> 00:26:57,162
Is the sound of gunfire.
536
00:27:01,833 --> 00:27:04,962
After the execution,
the bodies of the Romanov family
537
00:27:05,045 --> 00:27:08,507
were burned and then
buried in a mass grave.
538
00:27:11,843 --> 00:27:15,472
But in the wake of the killing,
rumors emerged
539
00:27:15,555 --> 00:27:18,642
that the youngest daughter,
Anastasia,
540
00:27:18,684 --> 00:27:21,728
had survived the slaughter.
541
00:27:24,272 --> 00:27:28,819
I think the idea that
An-Anastasia might have escaped,
542
00:27:28,860 --> 00:27:33,657
it seems to be because of
the chaos and the time it took
543
00:27:33,699 --> 00:27:38,453
for the true events
that night to come out.
544
00:27:38,537 --> 00:27:40,664
It was said that the
gunmen were drunk,
545
00:27:40,747 --> 00:27:44,668
and the cellar
was full of smoke.
546
00:27:45,544 --> 00:27:47,754
The story, such as it is,
547
00:27:47,879 --> 00:27:50,424
is that she somehow
survived the shooting
548
00:27:50,507 --> 00:27:52,884
and that one of the
Bolshevik guards
549
00:27:52,968 --> 00:27:54,428
noticed she was alive
550
00:27:54,511 --> 00:27:57,514
and had this residual
sympathy for the royal family,
551
00:27:57,597 --> 00:27:59,516
and sneaked her
out of the death house
552
00:27:59,599 --> 00:28:01,685
and put her on a horse cart
553
00:28:01,768 --> 00:28:04,104
and rode her to Romania.
554
00:28:17,868 --> 00:28:20,203
The limp body of a young woman
555
00:28:20,287 --> 00:28:22,080
is pulled from a canal
556
00:28:22,164 --> 00:28:24,750
after a failed suicide attempt.
557
00:28:24,833 --> 00:28:29,504
Suffering from traumatic
amnesia and severe depression,
558
00:28:29,546 --> 00:28:32,090
she is admitted into
a mental hospital.
559
00:28:32,174 --> 00:28:36,303
The doctors,
unable to verify the woman's identity,
560
00:28:36,344 --> 00:28:39,222
refer to her as
Fraulein Unbekannt:
561
00:28:39,306 --> 00:28:42,017
Miss Unknown.
562
00:28:42,100 --> 00:28:44,603
She became
known as Miss Unknown,
563
00:28:44,686 --> 00:28:46,480
which lasted for months.
564
00:28:46,563 --> 00:28:49,733
And she was ripe
for having an identity
565
00:28:49,816 --> 00:28:51,276
sort of thrust on her.
566
00:28:52,694 --> 00:28:55,322
Most likely,
she has a primary diagnosis
567
00:28:55,405 --> 00:28:57,491
of post-traumatic
stress disorder.
568
00:28:57,532 --> 00:28:59,993
Therefore, we have some deficits
569
00:29:00,035 --> 00:29:01,578
in cognition,
570
00:29:01,703 --> 00:29:03,997
we have some
bizarre emotionality,
571
00:29:04,081 --> 00:29:06,917
and we have someone
who's in a state
572
00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:11,963
of confusion, which comes
and goes in different gradations.
573
00:29:13,340 --> 00:29:15,217
Over the course of
about a year or so,
574
00:29:15,342 --> 00:29:18,303
another patient sort of
notices she looks a bit like
575
00:29:18,345 --> 00:29:21,765
one of the Romanov daughters,
and so these rumors emerge
576
00:29:21,848 --> 00:29:24,518
that she's connected
to the royal family.
577
00:29:25,894 --> 00:29:29,147
Once they've
latched on to some evidence
578
00:29:29,272 --> 00:29:31,483
that she might be Anastasia,
579
00:29:31,566 --> 00:29:35,320
it's all sort of a case
of confirmation bias.
580
00:29:35,362 --> 00:29:37,322
Everybody looks for the things.
581
00:29:37,405 --> 00:29:39,116
And I think, in a general way,
582
00:29:39,199 --> 00:29:42,536
people wanted hope
out of a terrible tragedy.
583
00:29:42,619 --> 00:29:44,538
It's a human instinct.
584
00:29:44,621 --> 00:29:47,999
And the survival of
Anastasia represented hope.
585
00:29:48,083 --> 00:29:50,293
In 1922,
586
00:29:50,377 --> 00:29:51,670
the mysterious woman,
587
00:29:51,753 --> 00:29:54,422
who had also gone by
the name Anna Anderson,
588
00:29:54,506 --> 00:29:56,049
was released from the hospital
589
00:29:56,133 --> 00:29:59,594
and soon began
calling herself Anastasia.
590
00:29:59,678 --> 00:30:02,597
And it wasn't long
before her haunting story
591
00:30:02,681 --> 00:30:04,724
made worldwide headlines,
592
00:30:04,850 --> 00:30:06,810
prompting many to ask,
593
00:30:06,852 --> 00:30:10,188
"Was the woman
in Berlin an imposter
594
00:30:10,313 --> 00:30:12,732
or the Russian grand duchess?"
595
00:30:14,067 --> 00:30:17,154
She went viral,
in a sense, at that time,
596
00:30:17,195 --> 00:30:21,825
because the world was
hungry for that kind of scandal.
597
00:30:21,908 --> 00:30:24,828
Because she wasn't out there
598
00:30:24,870 --> 00:30:28,874
energetically trying
to perpetrate frauds
599
00:30:28,999 --> 00:30:30,625
under the guise of
being this person.
600
00:30:30,709 --> 00:30:33,128
In a sense,
she was just put into a role.
601
00:30:35,213 --> 00:30:37,132
She was
somebody who was desperately
602
00:30:37,215 --> 00:30:38,592
searching for a reality,
603
00:30:38,675 --> 00:30:41,887
and she danced
through multiple realities.
604
00:30:42,012 --> 00:30:44,639
The question of whether she
was intentionally impersonating
605
00:30:44,723 --> 00:30:47,309
someone else or
whether that was the truth
606
00:30:47,350 --> 00:30:50,145
is still left up to history.
607
00:30:52,022 --> 00:30:55,108
There were quite a
few Anastasia imposters,
608
00:30:55,192 --> 00:30:58,653
but she benefitted from having
this sort of definite transition
609
00:30:58,695 --> 00:31:01,323
where she was
pulled from the canal.
610
00:31:01,364 --> 00:31:06,328
And the reason for her success
was because she was supported
611
00:31:06,411 --> 00:31:09,164
by members of the
Romanov family.
612
00:31:09,247 --> 00:31:13,418
Unfortunately, she was also
not supported by a lot of them.
613
00:31:13,543 --> 00:31:15,545
She had supporters
and detractors.
614
00:31:15,629 --> 00:31:17,631
But I think once you
have a grand duke
615
00:31:17,714 --> 00:31:19,507
or a prince on your side,
616
00:31:19,633 --> 00:31:21,760
then people will flock around.
617
00:31:21,843 --> 00:31:25,347
There's these
rumors that the Romanovs banked
618
00:31:25,472 --> 00:31:28,808
outside of Russia,
that they had millions of rubles
619
00:31:28,850 --> 00:31:31,269
in a British bank and all this.
620
00:31:31,353 --> 00:31:33,396
So the real Anastasia
621
00:31:33,480 --> 00:31:35,190
could be in for a fortune.
622
00:31:35,273 --> 00:31:38,944
So for a period of time
was really living it up.
623
00:31:39,027 --> 00:31:43,073
She, at one point,
was staying with European royals.
624
00:31:43,156 --> 00:31:45,951
Two of her big supporters
625
00:31:46,034 --> 00:31:47,661
in Germany were aristocrats,
626
00:31:47,786 --> 00:31:50,705
who supported Anastasia,
believed in her cause,
627
00:31:50,830 --> 00:31:52,666
even though she was
very difficult to handle.
628
00:31:52,749 --> 00:31:55,585
But these people were so sure
629
00:31:55,710 --> 00:31:58,213
that she was Anastasia,
they put up with a lot.
630
00:31:59,631 --> 00:32:00,911
Given that she possessed
631
00:32:00,966 --> 00:32:03,510
what was thought to
be a Russian accent,
632
00:32:03,593 --> 00:32:05,553
had scarring across
much of her body,
633
00:32:05,637 --> 00:32:08,640
which seemed consistent
with bayonet wounds,
634
00:32:08,682 --> 00:32:10,850
and cornflower-blue eyes,
635
00:32:10,976 --> 00:32:14,354
which matched those of
the missing Grand Duchess,
636
00:32:14,437 --> 00:32:16,731
there was enough
compelling evidence to suggest
637
00:32:16,856 --> 00:32:19,609
that the young woman
pulled from the German canal
638
00:32:19,693 --> 00:32:22,112
might really be Anastasia.
639
00:32:22,195 --> 00:32:25,156
But given the nature
of the tsar's family's
640
00:32:25,240 --> 00:32:26,616
bloody execution,
641
00:32:26,700 --> 00:32:29,202
how could anyone survive?
642
00:32:41,047 --> 00:32:44,592
The young woman
claiming to be the Grand Duchess, Anastasia
643
00:32:44,676 --> 00:32:46,970
has taken up residence
at Castle Seeon
644
00:32:47,095 --> 00:32:49,806
as a guest of Duke
George of Leuchtenberg,
645
00:32:49,889 --> 00:32:52,851
a distant relative
of Tsar Nicholas II.
646
00:32:52,976 --> 00:32:54,978
But the aristocrats
and European royalty,
647
00:32:55,103 --> 00:32:58,273
who had been hosting the
strangely eccentric woman
648
00:32:58,356 --> 00:33:01,109
are beginning to suspect
that there is no way
649
00:33:01,192 --> 00:33:04,404
she could actually be the
long-lost Russian princess.
650
00:33:04,529 --> 00:33:08,325
Especially after it is
reported that Anna Anderson
651
00:33:08,450 --> 00:33:11,995
actually had yet another name.
652
00:33:12,078 --> 00:33:14,831
What happened was in 1927,
653
00:33:14,914 --> 00:33:16,791
a detective looked
into her background,
654
00:33:16,875 --> 00:33:20,170
and the detective says,
"This is not Anastasia."
655
00:33:20,211 --> 00:33:24,132
This is a Polish peasant
girl named Franziska.
656
00:33:24,215 --> 00:33:27,052
And Franziska moved
from Poland to Berlin
657
00:33:27,135 --> 00:33:30,638
during the first World War and
suffered a severe head injury
658
00:33:30,722 --> 00:33:32,474
while working in
a munitions plant.
659
00:33:32,515 --> 00:33:37,145
There was an explosion,
so she had brain damage,
660
00:33:37,228 --> 00:33:40,023
went into mental
homes after that,
661
00:33:40,106 --> 00:33:43,234
and then all of a sudden
jumps into a canal in 1920.
662
00:33:43,318 --> 00:33:46,154
And this triggers this
decades-long argument.
663
00:33:46,237 --> 00:33:48,740
You know,
is this really Franziska
664
00:33:48,823 --> 00:33:51,159
or is this Anastasia?
665
00:33:51,201 --> 00:33:54,329
In 1938, as the controversy
666
00:33:54,371 --> 00:33:58,291
regarding Anna Anderson's
identity reached a fever pitch,
667
00:33:58,375 --> 00:34:01,169
the woman who had by
now firmly convinced herself
668
00:34:01,211 --> 00:34:03,922
that she was the real Anastasia
669
00:34:04,005 --> 00:34:06,633
petitioned a German
court to try her case
670
00:34:06,674 --> 00:34:08,927
and restore her birthright.
671
00:34:09,010 --> 00:34:12,305
It marked the beginning of
the longest-running lawsuit
672
00:34:12,389 --> 00:34:13,640
in German history.
673
00:34:13,723 --> 00:34:16,768
For decades,
evidence was presented
674
00:34:16,851 --> 00:34:19,270
both for and
against Anna's claim,
675
00:34:19,354 --> 00:34:22,565
including comparisons
of handwriting samples
676
00:34:22,649 --> 00:34:28,154
and photographic comparisons
of Anna and Anastasia's ears.
677
00:34:28,196 --> 00:34:32,075
Officially,
Anna's court case ended in 1970,
678
00:34:32,158 --> 00:34:35,495
with neither side able
to conclusively establish
679
00:34:35,578 --> 00:34:37,997
the would-be monarch's identity.
680
00:34:38,039 --> 00:34:41,251
But that was by no
means the end of the story.
681
00:34:41,334 --> 00:34:45,630
In 1991,
seven years after Anna's death,
682
00:34:45,713 --> 00:34:48,967
the mangled remains of the
Romanov family were found
683
00:34:49,008 --> 00:34:51,678
buried in a mass grave
just a short distance
684
00:34:51,803 --> 00:34:53,471
from where they were executed.
685
00:34:56,099 --> 00:34:59,144
And the investigators
were shocked to find
686
00:34:59,227 --> 00:35:02,814
that the remains of
the tsar's son Alexei
687
00:35:02,856 --> 00:35:05,358
and one of the
Romanov's four daughters
688
00:35:05,442 --> 00:35:08,236
were missing.
689
00:35:08,361 --> 00:35:10,405
In 1978,
690
00:35:10,530 --> 00:35:12,407
one of the killers of
the Romanov family
691
00:35:12,490 --> 00:35:15,326
made a confession,
and as a result of that,
692
00:35:15,410 --> 00:35:18,163
bodies were found under
some railway sidings.
693
00:35:18,204 --> 00:35:21,416
The guy who found the remains
694
00:35:21,541 --> 00:35:24,002
kept this a secret,
though, for two decades
695
00:35:24,085 --> 00:35:25,753
because the communists
were still in power
696
00:35:25,837 --> 00:35:29,174
and he kind of sensed this might
be a bad idea to tell everybody.
697
00:35:29,257 --> 00:35:32,302
This was in
the '90s and Anastasia,
698
00:35:32,385 --> 00:35:35,138
Anna Anderson,
had already died, unfortunately.
699
00:35:35,180 --> 00:35:38,183
But it was discovered that
two of the bodies were missing.
700
00:35:39,851 --> 00:35:42,145
Two of the bodies missing?
701
00:35:42,270 --> 00:35:45,899
Could it be that Anna
Anderson was not an impostor
702
00:35:46,024 --> 00:35:48,902
after all,
but the real Anastasia?
703
00:35:49,027 --> 00:35:51,196
When the news came through
704
00:35:51,279 --> 00:35:54,407
that two bodies were missing,
everybody was rather excited
705
00:35:54,491 --> 00:35:58,536
and thought, "Well,
this proves that Ana-Anastasia lived."
706
00:35:58,620 --> 00:36:02,916
However,
the bodies were then tested for DNA.
707
00:36:02,999 --> 00:36:06,503
They compared samples of Anna
708
00:36:06,586 --> 00:36:09,797
and find that she doesn't
match the Romanovs at all.
709
00:36:09,881 --> 00:36:12,175
But there is a match between
710
00:36:12,300 --> 00:36:15,220
Anna and her
relatives of Franziska.
711
00:36:15,345 --> 00:36:20,016
Later on,
a second plot of bodies was found,
712
00:36:20,099 --> 00:36:23,686
and the body of Anastasia is
713
00:36:23,770 --> 00:36:25,480
actually found and DNA-tested.
714
00:36:25,563 --> 00:36:28,316
For a second time,
DNA testing is brought in
715
00:36:28,399 --> 00:36:30,944
and said, "No, no, no,
Anastasia was buried
716
00:36:31,027 --> 00:36:32,654
along with the
rest of her family."
717
00:36:32,779 --> 00:36:35,740
And Franziska
was totally deluded.
718
00:36:35,823 --> 00:36:40,161
But even today, there's people
who insist that the DNA tests
719
00:36:40,245 --> 00:36:42,830
were all fake and that
this really was Anastasia,
720
00:36:42,914 --> 00:36:45,333
and someone really did survive
721
00:36:45,375 --> 00:36:47,585
this brutal slaughter
of the royal family.
722
00:36:48,878 --> 00:36:50,964
Strangely, Anna Anderson did
723
00:36:51,047 --> 00:36:52,799
become something
larger than life.
724
00:36:52,882 --> 00:36:54,509
She became a legend.
725
00:36:54,592 --> 00:36:57,804
There have been many books.
726
00:36:57,845 --> 00:36:59,847
There have been movies,
a musical.
727
00:36:59,931 --> 00:37:01,975
We still love the story,
728
00:37:02,058 --> 00:37:05,270
and when it is retold in
the fictionalized versions,
729
00:37:05,353 --> 00:37:08,231
she is always
really the princess.
730
00:37:08,314 --> 00:37:12,610
She was just a puppet of forces
731
00:37:12,694 --> 00:37:14,445
that were beyond her.
732
00:37:14,529 --> 00:37:16,656
And she was clearly
quite malleable
733
00:37:16,739 --> 00:37:19,951
and was willing to become
734
00:37:20,034 --> 00:37:22,537
the persona that had
been assigned to her.
735
00:37:22,620 --> 00:37:25,206
Her capacity to be
736
00:37:25,290 --> 00:37:29,002
delusional clearly played
a part in the formation
737
00:37:29,127 --> 00:37:32,297
of this false identity,
738
00:37:32,380 --> 00:37:37,135
which she seemed to
live as if it were actual.
739
00:37:39,345 --> 00:37:41,806
Whether Anna
Anderson truly believed
740
00:37:41,889 --> 00:37:47,020
or simply wanted to believe
that she was Anastasia Romanov,
741
00:37:47,103 --> 00:37:50,148
she never wavered from her claim
742
00:37:50,189 --> 00:37:52,734
even until the day she died.
743
00:37:52,817 --> 00:37:55,570
But what drives someone
744
00:37:55,653 --> 00:37:58,406
to stick to their story,
no matter what?
745
00:37:58,489 --> 00:38:01,242
For some, as it turns out,
it is not merely
746
00:38:01,326 --> 00:38:04,162
a choice, a con or a delusion.
747
00:38:04,287 --> 00:38:12,287
Some people are simply
born to be someone else.
748
00:38:14,380 --> 00:38:17,884
Jazz musician and band leaderpr
749
00:38:17,967 --> 00:38:22,847
during the 1940s and 50s,
dies at the age of 74 in his home.
750
00:38:22,930 --> 00:38:27,143
But when the paramedics arrive,
they make a shocking discovery.
751
00:38:27,226 --> 00:38:30,563
Billy Tipton was, in fact...
752
00:38:30,647 --> 00:38:32,148
a woman.
753
00:38:32,231 --> 00:38:35,318
Here's someone who was gifted,
a great pianist,
754
00:38:35,401 --> 00:38:40,907
a great saxophone player,
someone who had dramatic talent.
755
00:38:40,990 --> 00:38:44,160
But every time
Dorothy Lucille Tipton
756
00:38:44,243 --> 00:38:46,746
went for a musical audition,
757
00:38:46,829 --> 00:38:50,124
she was turned down
regardless of obvious talent.
758
00:38:50,208 --> 00:38:53,378
One day here she is,
Dorothy Lucille Tipton
759
00:38:53,461 --> 00:38:55,505
changes her name
to Billy Tipton,
760
00:38:55,588 --> 00:38:59,425
cuts her hair short, puts on a suit,
goes in, gets the job.
761
00:38:59,509 --> 00:39:01,969
She's got the chops,
she's got the talent,
762
00:39:02,053 --> 00:39:03,638
and now she has the work.
763
00:39:03,763 --> 00:39:05,640
And she has a successful career,
764
00:39:05,723 --> 00:39:08,851
decades as a
successful jazz pianist.
765
00:39:10,687 --> 00:39:13,356
The Billy Tipton Trio
were quite popular.
766
00:39:13,439 --> 00:39:14,982
They played all over the place.
767
00:39:15,024 --> 00:39:17,151
And by all accounts,
768
00:39:17,193 --> 00:39:19,987
they were a
well-regarded jazz trio
769
00:39:20,071 --> 00:39:22,657
back in this era,
in the '50s, '60s.
770
00:39:22,782 --> 00:39:26,953
Billy Tipton was
looking to do something
771
00:39:27,036 --> 00:39:31,040
that was critically important
to her life-- to make music
772
00:39:31,165 --> 00:39:33,876
and to be accepted
into a society
773
00:39:33,960 --> 00:39:36,254
that would not
have her as herself.
774
00:39:36,379 --> 00:39:39,465
She wasn't gonna let
something like gender
775
00:39:39,507 --> 00:39:42,552
or prejudice get in her way.
776
00:39:44,929 --> 00:39:49,392
Eventually, Billy became
so committed to living as a man
777
00:39:49,475 --> 00:39:52,270
that even his wives,
of which he had five
778
00:39:52,353 --> 00:39:53,688
over the course of his life,
779
00:39:53,771 --> 00:39:56,899
claimed to never know
the truth about Billy.
780
00:39:57,859 --> 00:40:00,945
The 30s, 40s,
50s were much primmer than today.
781
00:40:01,028 --> 00:40:04,031
Husbands and wives typically
didn't parade around naked
782
00:40:04,115 --> 00:40:05,450
in front of each other.
783
00:40:05,533 --> 00:40:09,162
This individual said,
784
00:40:09,203 --> 00:40:11,414
"I have a certain
kind of problem
785
00:40:11,497 --> 00:40:13,541
"where I can't have sex.
786
00:40:13,624 --> 00:40:15,752
"It comes from a
childhood injury,
787
00:40:15,835 --> 00:40:17,378
"too difficult to explain.
788
00:40:17,462 --> 00:40:21,215
"But I can be a
wonderful husband.
789
00:40:21,299 --> 00:40:23,468
I can be a wonderful father."
790
00:40:23,551 --> 00:40:26,137
And, therefore,
he was able to carry out
791
00:40:26,262 --> 00:40:29,599
this facade as Billy Tipton.
792
00:40:29,682 --> 00:40:32,894
There are
people in certain societies
793
00:40:32,977 --> 00:40:35,313
all over the world who,
794
00:40:35,354 --> 00:40:38,441
by virtue of the
prejudice of the society
795
00:40:38,524 --> 00:40:40,026
or the community
in which they live,
796
00:40:40,109 --> 00:40:43,154
cannot allow themselves
to be themselves,
797
00:40:43,237 --> 00:40:45,323
which seems like
a real perversity
798
00:40:45,448 --> 00:40:48,367
that the only way they
could be real is to be fake.
799
00:40:48,493 --> 00:40:50,536
Because you are
living the secret,
800
00:40:50,620 --> 00:40:52,205
not just living with a secret.
801
00:40:52,288 --> 00:40:55,333
We have many
characters within ourselves.
802
00:40:55,458 --> 00:40:57,251
We're not consistent.
803
00:40:57,376 --> 00:40:59,629
We have a business self,
we have a social self,
804
00:40:59,712 --> 00:41:01,732
we have a parental self,
we have a good-citizen self.
805
00:41:01,756 --> 00:41:05,885
And this brings up
some issues about reality.
806
00:41:05,968 --> 00:41:08,721
An old thief once told me
that you have to die with a lie.
807
00:41:08,805 --> 00:41:10,640
If somebody finds
out that you're a fraud,
808
00:41:10,681 --> 00:41:13,017
they'll think you're a fraud
from that point forward.
809
00:41:13,100 --> 00:41:16,813
Billy Tipton died with that lie,
but for him, that wasn't a lie.
810
00:41:16,854 --> 00:41:18,648
That was his truth.
811
00:41:20,358 --> 00:41:24,821
For Billy Tipton,
living as a man was more than a role.
812
00:41:24,862 --> 00:41:27,365
It was his life.
813
00:41:27,448 --> 00:41:30,117
But when a person
commits themselves
814
00:41:30,201 --> 00:41:32,370
to an impersonation
so thoroughly,
815
00:41:32,453 --> 00:41:34,956
which part of them is more real?
816
00:41:35,039 --> 00:41:36,999
Who they were?
817
00:41:37,083 --> 00:41:40,711
Or who they've chosen to become?
818
00:41:42,046 --> 00:41:45,925
Perhaps they exist to
remind us that who we are
819
00:41:46,008 --> 00:41:48,594
and who we think we are
are not always the same.
820
00:41:48,678 --> 00:41:51,973
And that our own carefully
constructed facades
821
00:41:52,098 --> 00:41:54,100
could shatter at any moment,
822
00:41:54,183 --> 00:41:57,478
exposing the parts of ourselves
we would prefer to keep hidden
823
00:41:57,562 --> 00:42:00,481
and, um... unexplained.
64790
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