WEBVTT - FRED DEMARA, Known for His 'Rascality, Pure Rascality' 0:00:02.600 --> 0:00:06.240 Welcome to Criminalia, a production of Shonda land Audio in 0:00:06.320 --> 0:00:15.040 partnership with I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the 0:00:15.120 --> 0:00:18.560 third season of Criminalia. This season, we're exploring the lives 0:00:18.600 --> 0:00:22.680 and motivations of some of the most notorious impostors throughout history. 0:00:23.239 --> 0:00:26.720 I'm Maria tram Marquis and I'm Holly Fry. And the 0:00:26.720 --> 0:00:28.640 impostor that we're going to get to know in this 0:00:28.680 --> 0:00:33.280 episode is a man with a fabulous name, man Waldo 0:00:33.520 --> 0:00:37.040 Demara Jr. He preferred to be known as Fred, and 0:00:37.080 --> 0:00:38.920 we want to make a note about his last name. 0:00:38.920 --> 0:00:42.840 We have looked at various pronunciations for it. Some people 0:00:42.880 --> 0:00:46.200 say it Demera, some people say it Demara. We're going 0:00:46.200 --> 0:00:49.960 with Demara, so just know that that's that's where we're 0:00:50.000 --> 0:00:51.919 defaulting too. But you might hear it a different way 0:00:51.960 --> 0:00:55.160 if you go looking for information on him. Fred, as 0:00:55.200 --> 0:00:57.640 again he liked to be called, was born on December 0:00:58.040 --> 0:01:04.520 one in Lawrence, Massachusetts, and his family were largely theater owners. 0:01:05.040 --> 0:01:09.400 Fred's uncle, Napoleon Demarro Senior, another great name in the family, 0:01:10.040 --> 0:01:14.720 owned several theaters across Lawrence, and Fred's father, ferdman Waldo 0:01:14.840 --> 0:01:18.480 Demarro Senior, worked in the Old Theater District as a 0:01:18.520 --> 0:01:22.560 motion picture operator. They were active union members and the 0:01:22.600 --> 0:01:27.360 families were pretty well off. His fairly also was fairly devout, 0:01:27.640 --> 0:01:30.959 and Fred maintained a strong interest and belief in Christianity 0:01:31.080 --> 0:01:36.760 throughout his life. Mostly mostly we say, because we're actually 0:01:36.840 --> 0:01:38.880 right now, I'm going to talk about his first con. 0:01:39.680 --> 0:01:43.480 His first con was tiny. We quote Maria Konokova, who 0:01:43.520 --> 0:01:45.760 was the author of a book called The Confidence Game. 0:01:46.400 --> 0:01:49.000 She also went on to say, why and how do 0:01:49.120 --> 0:01:53.400 we so easily fall for scams? And Fred's scam he conned, 0:01:53.800 --> 0:01:56.160 This isn't when he was in high school, he conned 0:01:56.680 --> 0:01:59.560 a chocolate shop in his hometown into giving chocolates to 0:01:59.640 --> 0:02:03.160 his entire class when he had no money or intention 0:02:03.280 --> 0:02:06.800 to pay for them. She went on quote, that's no 0:02:06.880 --> 0:02:10.240 big deal. But after that there was no turning back. 0:02:10.639 --> 0:02:14.720 He was on his way to becoming the great impostor. Yeah. Yeah, 0:02:14.760 --> 0:02:18.000 So in terms of Christianity, not so much with all 0:02:18.040 --> 0:02:25.040 the commandments, just that felt right, pick and choose selective commandment. 0:02:26.440 --> 0:02:28.880 So when the early part of the Great Depression began, 0:02:29.320 --> 0:02:32.880 it hit his family. Fred's father went bankrupt and the 0:02:32.960 --> 0:02:36.280 family was forced to relocate and it was then, when 0:02:36.280 --> 0:02:39.600 Fred was just sixteen years old, that he ran away 0:02:39.639 --> 0:02:43.880 from home with the intentions of becoming a monk. He 0:02:44.160 --> 0:02:48.400 joined a monastery in Rhode Island, and his parents were told, 0:02:48.520 --> 0:02:52.640 now don't worry by a father demeris of the Trappist Monks. 0:02:52.760 --> 0:02:55.880 He has joined the most demanding religious order in the world, 0:02:56.360 --> 0:02:59.840 and he will be home in several weeks. I always 0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:02.000 that to be He's not going to be able to 0:03:02.040 --> 0:03:03.880 handle this, and you'll frame him in about a month. 0:03:04.200 --> 0:03:06.520 He can't hack it. We will take care of him. 0:03:06.639 --> 0:03:08.720 He'll learn his lesson and go home, and he'll be 0:03:08.800 --> 0:03:12.239 home soon. Um. In fact, Fred did join the monastery 0:03:12.360 --> 0:03:15.240 as what was known as a novice. The monks required 0:03:15.320 --> 0:03:18.920 novices to live as residents for five or six years 0:03:18.960 --> 0:03:23.160 before taking their vows, but after four years Fred laughed. 0:03:23.240 --> 0:03:25.320 He later was quoted saying that it was because of 0:03:25.360 --> 0:03:28.480 the abbot of the monastery. The abbot, for those who 0:03:28.480 --> 0:03:31.600 don't know, is the male head of an abbey of monks, 0:03:31.600 --> 0:03:34.520 so he's the lead dude, and the abbot felt that 0:03:34.600 --> 0:03:37.080 Fred would be better suited for teaching out in the 0:03:37.120 --> 0:03:41.800 world rather than living in contemplation. Four years is a 0:03:41.800 --> 0:03:44.200 long time though I got to give him some credit. Yes, 0:03:44.720 --> 0:03:48.480 it is a long time. So Fred left the monastery 0:03:48.520 --> 0:03:52.120 in and of course World War two was on the horizon, 0:03:52.720 --> 0:03:57.200 so he listed in the U. S. Army. However, Fred 0:03:57.280 --> 0:03:59.840 did not really like being in the army, certainly at 0:04:00.120 --> 0:04:02.680 is not compared to what his time in the monastery 0:04:02.760 --> 0:04:06.040 had been like, and after just a year he deserted. 0:04:07.000 --> 0:04:10.160 While Fred may have run some basic scams here and 0:04:10.200 --> 0:04:13.640 there in his early years, this is when Fred took 0:04:13.720 --> 0:04:18.000 on his first false identity. Wanting out of the U. S. Army, 0:04:18.000 --> 0:04:20.880 Fred decided to take himself to the U. S. Navy, 0:04:20.920 --> 0:04:24.320 but this time he was using a fraudulent name, Anthony 0:04:24.360 --> 0:04:27.880 in Olia, who was a real person actually and one 0:04:27.880 --> 0:04:31.080 of his army buddies. So it's a little bit early, 0:04:31.200 --> 0:04:32.919 but we're going to take a break here for a 0:04:32.960 --> 0:04:36.000 word from sponsor, so we can then kind of group 0:04:36.120 --> 0:04:49.880 talking about Fred's first real impersonation altogether. Welcome back to Criminalia. 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:54.120 We're right where Fred pulls off his first and perhaps 0:04:54.160 --> 0:04:58.880 his biggest con So initially in the U. S. Navy, 0:04:59.040 --> 0:05:02.400 Fred going by the name Anthony and Nulia trained as 0:05:02.400 --> 0:05:05.080 a Corman, which is the equivalent today of like an 0:05:05.080 --> 0:05:08.360 e m T year of Physicians Assistant. It's a paramedical position. 0:05:09.320 --> 0:05:12.400 As he soon realized though, this job actually meant that 0:05:12.440 --> 0:05:14.400 he was going to be serving on the front lines, 0:05:14.600 --> 0:05:17.800 and he immediately tried to get out of it. He 0:05:17.960 --> 0:05:21.440 forged credentials that would allow him to enroll in officer 0:05:21.520 --> 0:05:26.839 training instead, but unfortunately for him, his forgery was discovered 0:05:27.000 --> 0:05:30.840 and for Fred that of course meant once again deserting 0:05:30.839 --> 0:05:33.880 and going back on the run. This time in his life, 0:05:33.960 --> 0:05:37.560 his resume as an impostor was becoming actually quite lengthy 0:05:37.640 --> 0:05:41.600 and quite varied. After leaving the Navy, Fred, who did 0:05:41.640 --> 0:05:46.320 not have any real credentials for well anything, really went 0:05:46.360 --> 0:05:50.560 on to teach psychology on college in Pennsylvania. He then 0:05:50.600 --> 0:05:53.240 posed as a professor of psychology at a school in 0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:56.680 Washington State. And it's hard to believe, but in fact, 0:05:56.800 --> 0:05:59.479 while he was in Washington, Fred was so popular in 0:05:59.600 --> 0:06:03.080 his town he was asked to stay on as sheriff. 0:06:03.120 --> 0:06:06.320 Fred Allway was on the prowl, saw a new opportunity 0:06:06.480 --> 0:06:11.359 and a new life to vanish into Laminais College in Alfred, Maine, 0:06:11.400 --> 0:06:13.840 was founded in nineteen fifty one by the brothers of 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:18.640 Christian instruction and joining the Brothers as Brother John Payne 0:06:18.880 --> 0:06:21.000 was a pretty easy way for Fred to take on 0:06:21.040 --> 0:06:24.039 a new identity. But he walked away from all of 0:06:24.080 --> 0:06:27.320 this in nineteen sixty. But this time it wasn't because 0:06:27.800 --> 0:06:29.800 you know, the time was approaching for him to take 0:06:29.839 --> 0:06:33.000 holy orders and he wanted to duck out instead. He 0:06:33.080 --> 0:06:35.240 left when the Brothers decided that they were going to 0:06:35.279 --> 0:06:39.840 rename the school to Walsh College instead of naming it 0:06:40.000 --> 0:06:43.599 after him. Now, whether he did or he didn't, Fred 0:06:43.680 --> 0:06:46.919 believed it was his idea to start the school, and 0:06:46.960 --> 0:06:49.719 he was angry that he wasn't recognized for it. They 0:06:49.800 --> 0:06:53.240 didn't even name him as rector or chancellor of the 0:06:53.320 --> 0:06:59.440 new college. So he left again. And Fred next took 0:06:59.480 --> 0:07:03.960 to the and this is a surprise, the Royal Canadian Navy. 0:07:04.040 --> 0:07:07.800 He wasn't a sailor, he wasn't a Canadian citizen. But 0:07:08.000 --> 0:07:11.280 one of his most impressive impersonations was when he joined 0:07:11.400 --> 0:07:15.040 the RCN in March nineteen sixty one. What makes this 0:07:15.160 --> 0:07:19.160 even more impressive is that he did so as a surgeon. 0:07:19.720 --> 0:07:23.080 Fred didn't actually have any of the degrees that he flaunted, 0:07:23.280 --> 0:07:26.520 or any education or training in any of the careers 0:07:26.560 --> 0:07:30.000 he tried, but he was intelligent and the people he 0:07:30.080 --> 0:07:34.440 knew said he had a remarkable memory. So Fred, using 0:07:34.480 --> 0:07:38.360 the name Dr Joseph Sear, visited the recruiting office in 0:07:38.480 --> 0:07:42.040 St John, New Brunswick and offered his professional services as 0:07:42.080 --> 0:07:45.800 a doctor, and he was commissioned as a surgeon lieutenant. 0:07:47.080 --> 0:07:50.440 This sounds shocking, but you know, processing a recruit normally 0:07:50.480 --> 0:07:52.920 would have taken about three months, but because there were 0:07:53.080 --> 0:07:57.240 so few medical officers, authorities were very lax on this 0:07:57.360 --> 0:08:01.680 screening and luckily for Fred, that included background checks as well, 0:08:02.640 --> 0:08:05.840 and so in no time at all. Dr Sear, who 0:08:05.880 --> 0:08:08.800 was really Fred, was assigned to the Naval Hospital in 0:08:08.880 --> 0:08:14.000 Halifax and subsequently to h MCS Cayuga. He joined the 0:08:14.040 --> 0:08:17.240 ship in Esquimalt. This is the ship's second tour of 0:08:17.320 --> 0:08:22.720 duty in Korean waters. As a fake surgeon in the 0:08:22.800 --> 0:08:28.360 Royal Canadian Navy, Fred actually did perform real surgeries, believe 0:08:28.400 --> 0:08:31.520 it or not. His first was dental work on the 0:08:31.560 --> 0:08:36.440 infected tooth of Cayuga, commandered Captain James Plumber. Fred's secret 0:08:36.520 --> 0:08:40.240 to success as a fraudulent medical practitioner was threefold. One 0:08:40.760 --> 0:08:44.000 read a few textbooks to rely on the help of 0:08:44.000 --> 0:08:48.160 the sick birth attendant, and three dispensed a generous amount 0:08:48.240 --> 0:08:52.000 of anesthetic and antibiotics. I can believe that last one, 0:08:52.679 --> 0:08:57.720 uh Sear, also tended to seriously wounded men and performed 0:08:57.760 --> 0:09:02.160 surgeries that involved complicated procedures like extracting a bullet during 0:09:02.240 --> 0:09:06.240 chest surgery, or even amputating a foot. But Fred, as 0:09:06.360 --> 0:09:10.040 Doctor Syr, was not a doctor, and thankfully none of 0:09:10.120 --> 0:09:13.200 his patients died. That to me is the one mercy 0:09:13.240 --> 0:09:16.920 of all this, right, OK, somebody with no real training 0:09:17.000 --> 0:09:20.280 going in and digging bullets out of people, amputating a foot. 0:09:20.559 --> 0:09:26.360 My goof Peter Godwin Chance, who sailed with the fictitious 0:09:26.640 --> 0:09:29.200 Doctor Syr, had once been treated by him for an 0:09:29.240 --> 0:09:33.040 infected toe, and Peter remembered him, as we quote, an 0:09:33.080 --> 0:09:36.120 affable man who was always the life of the party, 0:09:36.559 --> 0:09:40.760 though he neither drank alcohol nor smoked cigarettes. According to 0:09:40.840 --> 0:09:44.880 Dr John Jay Zane, who was Fred's personal physician, Fred 0:09:45.000 --> 0:09:48.120 was considered to be quote a lifesaver by many members 0:09:48.160 --> 0:09:50.920 of the crew of the Cayuga, and of course that 0:09:50.960 --> 0:09:53.679 would have been under his false identity of doctor Sear. 0:09:54.800 --> 0:09:58.320 The Canadian Navy discovered who doctor Sear really was, and 0:09:58.480 --> 0:10:02.199 that was Fred. When the real doctor Sears mother saw 0:10:02.240 --> 0:10:05.640 a news article about a man named Dr Joseph Seer 0:10:05.840 --> 0:10:10.440 on the Cayuga, and that story was fake. There was 0:10:10.600 --> 0:10:14.920 an actual doctor Joseph Seer whose medical records Fred had stolen. 0:10:15.400 --> 0:10:17.839 The fake doctor Sear's name made it all the way 0:10:17.880 --> 0:10:20.560 back to the real doctor Seer, who was practicing medicine 0:10:20.600 --> 0:10:24.680 in Grand Falls, New Brunswick. We've talked about this before, 0:10:24.760 --> 0:10:28.280 like when somebody is just using your name doing stuff's 0:10:28.280 --> 0:10:31.200 gonna come back. But here's where it gets to me 0:10:31.440 --> 0:10:35.600 really mind boggling. Even after Fred was found out, the 0:10:35.640 --> 0:10:40.200 Canadian Navy didn't press charges. How is that possible? Because 0:10:40.200 --> 0:10:45.360 they were embarrassed by what happened, so the authorities in 0:10:45.440 --> 0:10:48.680 the matter declined to take any action, presumably hoping to 0:10:48.760 --> 0:10:51.280 just kind of keep the whole thing as quiet as possible. 0:10:52.120 --> 0:10:57.080 Fred was actually honorably discharged, which is also mind boggling. 0:10:57.559 --> 0:11:00.520 He was released from service and he was shoot back 0:11:00.600 --> 0:11:04.080 pay plus active service credits in the amount of just 0:11:04.240 --> 0:11:07.440 under a thousand dollars. He was then driven to the 0:11:07.440 --> 0:11:10.800 border and turned over to the United States Immigration Office, 0:11:11.640 --> 0:11:13.880 and there weren't any outstanding warrants for him in the 0:11:13.960 --> 0:11:17.240 United States, so he was just free to go with 0:11:17.400 --> 0:11:22.079 his honorable discharge and his back pay having put how 0:11:22.160 --> 0:11:27.160 many people at physical risk through shenanigans um. So yeah, 0:11:27.480 --> 0:11:31.160 So after his discharge from the Canadian Navy, Fred of 0:11:31.200 --> 0:11:34.920 course again reinvented himself, and this time he decided to 0:11:35.000 --> 0:11:39.200 return to monastic life in Louisville, Kentucky, pretending to be 0:11:39.240 --> 0:11:42.320 a monk, something that Fred returned to on and off 0:11:42.360 --> 0:11:46.320 through his life. UM he used the name Robert Linton French. 0:11:46.840 --> 0:11:50.720 So Robert Linton French was, like Dr Sear, a real 0:11:50.760 --> 0:11:53.880 person and a real doctor. And through what we would 0:11:53.960 --> 0:11:57.640 now call social engineering, Fred was able to get copies 0:11:57.679 --> 0:12:02.199 of French's credentials include being his birth certificate, all just 0:12:02.440 --> 0:12:07.200 by mail. As Dr French. Fred traveled to Chicago, where 0:12:07.200 --> 0:12:10.960 he studied philosophy and ethics at DePaul University. He was, 0:12:11.120 --> 0:12:14.760 it was rumored, a natural in the field. But remember 0:12:14.880 --> 0:12:19.240 Robert wasn't really a student at DePaul. He was supposed 0:12:19.240 --> 0:12:21.760 to be living a monastic life in Kentucky and it 0:12:21.800 --> 0:12:24.360 was getting close to the time when he would take 0:12:24.400 --> 0:12:29.200 his holy orders. But before that happened, Fred vanished. A 0:12:29.240 --> 0:12:32.439 few years later, he graduated from Mulnoma School of the 0:12:32.480 --> 0:12:36.600 Bible in Portland, Oregon, where his first ministerial assignment was 0:12:36.760 --> 0:12:40.960 as pastor of the Cherry Grove Baptist Church in Gaston, Oregon, 0:12:41.800 --> 0:12:44.640 and he was well liked in the community, but things 0:12:44.640 --> 0:12:47.120 were starting to catch up. He couldn't quite escape the 0:12:47.200 --> 0:12:50.760 rumors of his previous life of fraud, and some members 0:12:50.800 --> 0:12:54.040 of the church actually enjoyed his presence, but other members 0:12:54.440 --> 0:12:56.480 were kind of worried that they were part of a 0:12:56.520 --> 0:13:02.400 big con That's an understandable concern. Absolute Fred resigned from 0:13:02.440 --> 0:13:07.600 that position, also not a surprise. We're going to take 0:13:07.600 --> 0:13:09.679 a break for a word from our sponsor, and when 0:13:09.760 --> 0:13:12.040 we come back, we're going to talk about the time 0:13:12.040 --> 0:13:14.880 when Fred went on trial. This is going to include 0:13:14.880 --> 0:13:18.880 some sensitive information and we will announce a warning beforehand. 0:13:26.840 --> 0:13:31.760 Welcome back to Criminalia, all right, let's get into the 0:13:31.840 --> 0:13:35.520 story of Fred and the school he opened and his 0:13:35.600 --> 0:13:39.280 eventual trial. After his life in Oregon, Fred went on 0:13:39.360 --> 0:13:42.439 to pose as an educator with special skills and counseling 0:13:42.480 --> 0:13:45.720 troubled youth, and he convinced a group of investors to 0:13:45.760 --> 0:13:50.400 purchase a Lutheran campsite in the Madera, California area. It 0:13:50.480 --> 0:13:53.280 was there he built the Calvary Ranch School for Boys 0:13:53.600 --> 0:13:57.640 in ninete it opened its doors today. This this kind 0:13:57.640 --> 0:14:00.240 of school would be known more as a therapeutic or 0:14:00.360 --> 0:14:04.920 behavioral boarding school. It's this school that landed Fred in 0:14:05.040 --> 0:14:08.960 court in Madera County in May sixty four. Now we're 0:14:08.960 --> 0:14:11.559 going to pause here for a moment because this is important. 0:14:11.720 --> 0:14:14.200 For the next two minutes and a few extra seconds, 0:14:14.200 --> 0:14:17.360 we timed it, this conversation and discussion of Fred's life 0:14:17.400 --> 0:14:20.440 is going to include the issue of child sexual abuse, 0:14:20.480 --> 0:14:23.440 which we understand might be very triggering or upsetting for 0:14:23.480 --> 0:14:26.480 some listeners. So stay safe, mute us for a couple 0:14:26.520 --> 0:14:28.800 of minutes if you want, and then meet us back here. 0:14:30.920 --> 0:14:34.800 It was Monday, May fourth, sixty four when Fred's fake 0:14:34.920 --> 0:14:40.760 life really began to unravel. Authorities removed students from his school, 0:14:40.920 --> 0:14:44.320 and although Fred seemed puzzled by the event, he did 0:14:44.440 --> 0:14:47.920 immediately drive to Los Angeles to find his friend and 0:14:48.040 --> 0:14:52.160 famous lawyer, Melvin Belly. Now, Fred and Melvin had a 0:14:52.200 --> 0:14:56.320 longstanding relationship, and Fred had called upon Melvine's legal counsel 0:14:56.440 --> 0:15:00.640 more than once. Fred was at this point, saying child 0:15:00.680 --> 0:15:05.320 molestation accusations and auto theft charges. That theft charge got 0:15:05.320 --> 0:15:08.520 added when Fred drove what was the school's car to 0:15:08.600 --> 0:15:12.120 Los Angeles to meet Melbourne. Fred turned himself into the 0:15:12.120 --> 0:15:15.080 Los Angeles authorities and he was back in Madeira County 0:15:15.160 --> 0:15:19.200 the next day. Melvine was an interesting lawyer. He was 0:15:19.320 --> 0:15:23.920 known as the King of Torts, which very basically meant 0:15:23.920 --> 0:15:26.760 that he was very good at getting his clients out 0:15:26.760 --> 0:15:31.160 of things such as assault, battery, or intentional infliction of 0:15:31.200 --> 0:15:34.880 emotional distress. Fred spent a week in the Madera County 0:15:34.920 --> 0:15:37.240 jail without saying a word, and he didn't have to. 0:15:37.480 --> 0:15:43.240 Melvin said everything for him. On the day of Fred's trial, 0:15:43.600 --> 0:15:48.360 the crowd in Judge Alec Brown's courtroom was overflowing. Melvin 0:15:48.520 --> 0:15:52.200 argued the charges were fabricated and without proper evidence, showing 0:15:52.240 --> 0:15:56.080 otherwise that his client Fred should be set free. The 0:15:56.200 --> 0:15:58.760 jury was made up of seven women and five men, 0:15:58.800 --> 0:16:01.360 and it took them fewer than thirty minutes to decide 0:16:01.480 --> 0:16:05.080 on a not guilty verdict. Fred, though, was not free. 0:16:05.320 --> 0:16:09.880 The prosecution produced three additional witnesses who accused Fred of 0:16:09.920 --> 0:16:13.400 contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and that meant 0:16:13.520 --> 0:16:17.560 that another trial was happening. Yes, So Fred's second trial 0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:21.240 began just about a month later on June at the 0:16:21.280 --> 0:16:25.320 Madera County Superior Court. The jury consisted this time of 0:16:25.440 --> 0:16:29.120 nine women and three men. Melvin called character witnesses to 0:16:29.160 --> 0:16:32.560 the stand, who testified that Fred had done nothing inappropriate. 0:16:33.040 --> 0:16:35.760 This was a case where his client was being harassed 0:16:35.800 --> 0:16:38.800 by several boys at the school because Fred had punished them. 0:16:39.320 --> 0:16:42.120 While it could be argued their charges were truthful, it 0:16:42.600 --> 0:16:45.800 also couldn't be proven that they weren't. So at the 0:16:45.920 --> 0:16:50.320 end of the day on June four, after an hour 0:16:50.440 --> 0:16:54.520 of deliberation, the jury found Fred not guilty on all charges. 0:16:55.120 --> 0:16:58.320 Those who knew Fred noted that he became pretty despondent 0:16:58.400 --> 0:17:01.760 at this point. Quote the strings all ran out on him. 0:17:01.800 --> 0:17:05.360 According to Melvin, quote, there was no way to channel 0:17:05.480 --> 0:17:09.040 or exploit his tremendous talents. But I never heard him 0:17:09.040 --> 0:17:13.200 say he had any regrets about anything. Unlike other con 0:17:13.359 --> 0:17:16.600 artists and imposters and just sort of a lot of 0:17:16.640 --> 0:17:20.000 people that we talked about on this show. Fred he 0:17:20.080 --> 0:17:23.719 didn't steal, and he didn't defraud for money. His his 0:17:23.760 --> 0:17:28.520 main goal was to gain notoriety. He wanted to be special. 0:17:28.800 --> 0:17:31.639 He became so well known. He was highlighted in Time 0:17:31.680 --> 0:17:36.280 magazine and Life Magazine and in a variety of other publications. 0:17:36.840 --> 0:17:41.720 In seven, Time Magazine called him, and we quote, audacious, 0:17:41.800 --> 0:17:46.000 unschooled but amazingly intelligent pretender who always wanted to be 0:17:46.080 --> 0:17:49.520 a somebody but succeeded in being a whole raft of 0:17:49.600 --> 0:17:53.159 somebody else's. Fred got what he wanted and it was 0:17:53.200 --> 0:17:56.240 a thrill. There were even rumors at one point that 0:17:56.359 --> 0:17:59.280 he was Frank Sinatra's bodyguard, which I mean, come on, 0:17:59.560 --> 0:18:03.800 must have given him a huge dopamine hit. Right, I'm 0:18:03.960 --> 0:18:08.760 very important now. When the Bangor Daily News interviewed St. 0:18:08.800 --> 0:18:12.200 George School's teacher Dana Smith, who had been principal at 0:18:12.240 --> 0:18:15.920 North Haven High School during Fred's brief tenure there, Dana's 0:18:15.960 --> 0:18:19.480 memories were as follows, and we're quoting. You could paint 0:18:19.560 --> 0:18:22.000 him any color you wanted. You could paint him as 0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:25.280 a scoundrel, a rogue, a good friend, because he was 0:18:25.320 --> 0:18:28.719 a little bit of all. Most of all, he was unusual, 0:18:29.480 --> 0:18:31.840 but he has a good memory, and that is what 0:18:31.880 --> 0:18:36.320 life consists of. Very confident, very personable, Dana continued that 0:18:36.400 --> 0:18:38.639 he was the kind of guy who was quote always 0:18:38.680 --> 0:18:42.400 looking for the shortcut. He wanted to be someone something. 0:18:42.680 --> 0:18:45.720 He loved titles, but he didn't want to put in 0:18:45.720 --> 0:18:48.520 the time in the work. I guess he was too impatient. 0:18:48.960 --> 0:18:54.080 It's like she knows him best of all. Who would 0:18:54.080 --> 0:18:55.800 think that the principle that you had at your high 0:18:55.800 --> 0:18:58.919 school would be the one who would know you so. 0:18:59.440 --> 0:19:02.760 In addition in two Things Like Life magazine and Time Magazine, 0:19:02.840 --> 0:19:06.840 author Robert Creighton immortalized him in his debut novel called 0:19:06.960 --> 0:19:10.040 The Great Impostor. The book was a hit and was 0:19:10.080 --> 0:19:13.320 developed into a movie in one and it starred Tony 0:19:13.400 --> 0:19:16.399 Curtis as Fred, which had did be pretty cool for Fred. 0:19:16.960 --> 0:19:19.840 Creton also wrote The Rascal and the Road, which was 0:19:19.920 --> 0:19:25.480 his memoir about his experiences with Fred. Fred's celebrity reputation 0:19:25.800 --> 0:19:28.439 is what got him the one acting role that he 0:19:28.600 --> 0:19:32.360 ever had, at least a legal acting role that everybody 0:19:32.400 --> 0:19:35.760 knew was acting. He played the character of a hospital 0:19:35.840 --> 0:19:39.440 doctor in the movie The Hypnotic Eye. It was reported 0:19:39.440 --> 0:19:42.199 in the press that while Fred was a convincing actor 0:19:42.240 --> 0:19:45.960 in real life, it did not translate to film. He 0:19:46.160 --> 0:19:48.760 was a man with his face on the cover of magazines, 0:19:48.800 --> 0:19:51.320 and he was in a movie, and he still got 0:19:51.359 --> 0:19:54.440 away with all of his schemes. I kind of love 0:19:54.560 --> 0:19:57.040 that he was cast as a character of a hospital 0:19:57.280 --> 0:20:06.720 doctor before right exactly, I can extract that bullet for him. Um. 0:20:06.760 --> 0:20:10.800 Closer to the end of his fraudulent career, though, Fred 0:20:10.880 --> 0:20:15.800 became the warden of a prison in Huntsville, Texas. Yes, 0:20:16.000 --> 0:20:19.240 really he was the warden, and he was going under 0:20:19.240 --> 0:20:22.480 the name of Ben W. Jones, his own he was 0:20:22.560 --> 0:20:26.440 got him in this instance. He was caught after showing 0:20:26.520 --> 0:20:31.720 a prisoner a magazine story about himself. He just couldn't 0:20:31.760 --> 0:20:34.720 resist trying to get a little clout. Like a lot 0:20:34.760 --> 0:20:37.719 of people who pretend to be someone else, Fred often, 0:20:37.760 --> 0:20:42.159 as we've talked about here, stole the identities of living people. However, 0:20:42.200 --> 0:20:44.399 as we've said, for Fred, his main goal was not money. 0:20:44.480 --> 0:20:47.359 He just wanted the status and the fame and just 0:20:47.400 --> 0:20:51.119 one more cheat. He just loved it. Whenever he was 0:20:51.160 --> 0:20:56.520 asked to describe his motives, he replied, rascality, pure rascality. 0:20:56.560 --> 0:21:00.840 Oh yeah, Fred. So we mentioned earlier that he got 0:21:00.840 --> 0:21:04.359 away with things, but it's true that he never faced 0:21:04.440 --> 0:21:07.840 legal penalties. Let's say that, um, it's not true to 0:21:07.880 --> 0:21:10.680 say that had never gotten hot water. His capers led 0:21:10.720 --> 0:21:16.240 to charges against him for several things, including fraud, forgery, theft, embezzlement, 0:21:16.400 --> 0:21:22.160 resisting arrest, vagrancy, and public drunkenness. But Melvin always took 0:21:22.200 --> 0:21:25.440 care of everything. It's good to have a really good 0:21:25.440 --> 0:21:28.920 friend who's a lawyer. Fred's later years were far less 0:21:28.920 --> 0:21:32.399 glamorous than his earlier life had been. For eight years, 0:21:32.440 --> 0:21:36.479 Fred lived in semi obscurity in Orange County, California, and 0:21:36.560 --> 0:21:40.000 there he worked first as a Baptist minister and then 0:21:40.040 --> 0:21:44.280 as a visiting counselor at Good Samaritan Hospital in Anaheim, 0:21:44.320 --> 0:21:48.400 doing so until health conditions forced him to stop. When 0:21:48.440 --> 0:21:51.840 Fred's passed exploits were discovered in the late nineteen seventies, 0:21:51.840 --> 0:21:55.680 the hospital could have dismissed him, but right in line 0:21:55.680 --> 0:21:58.080 with the rest of his life, they didn't. Fred had 0:21:58.119 --> 0:22:00.720 worked as a visiting chaplain and had developed a really 0:22:00.720 --> 0:22:03.719 close friendship with the chief of stats, so when he 0:22:03.840 --> 0:22:08.200 personally vouched for Fred, Fred was allowed to remain as chaplain. 0:22:09.440 --> 0:22:13.600 He just squeaked out at every problem, in addition to 0:22:13.720 --> 0:22:16.879 allowing him to stay on because Fred had limited finances, 0:22:16.920 --> 0:22:18.879 and because of his friendship with one of the major 0:22:18.920 --> 0:22:22.199 owners of the hospital, he actually continued to work and 0:22:22.280 --> 0:22:25.239 live in the hospital until his death, which came just 0:22:25.280 --> 0:22:30.200 two years later. He eventually developed complications from conditions such 0:22:30.200 --> 0:22:33.320 as type two diabetes and heart disease, and he died 0:22:33.359 --> 0:22:37.600 of heart failure at age sixty on June seven in 0:22:37.720 --> 0:22:42.119 West Anaheim, California. Okay, so there's actually one more story 0:22:42.160 --> 0:22:46.600 that's pretty far fetched and totally not verified, but it 0:22:46.680 --> 0:22:49.840 seems like the kind of thing that Fred would want 0:22:49.920 --> 0:22:54.240 us to read about him. So we do know that 0:22:54.280 --> 0:22:58.960 Fred had friendships for the variety of notable people during 0:22:59.040 --> 0:23:03.200 his life, including an alleged close relationship with the actor 0:23:03.240 --> 0:23:06.440 Steve McQueen. Already I've cocked an eyebrow on this one, 0:23:06.520 --> 0:23:09.960 but as the story goes, it was Fred who gave 0:23:10.080 --> 0:23:14.320 McQueen his last rites, so regardless of whether or not 0:23:14.400 --> 0:23:17.480 the two may or may not have been friends as 0:23:17.520 --> 0:23:20.400 far as we can tell. When McQueen died in New 0:23:20.440 --> 0:23:24.639 Mexico in nineteen eighty, Fred was already seriously ill himself 0:23:24.680 --> 0:23:28.480 in California, and it's really likely at that time that 0:23:28.560 --> 0:23:33.479 those paths never met. I guarantee you. Fred started this 0:23:33.560 --> 0:23:38.640 rumor right absolutely, Like he's he's just hanging around, He's 0:23:38.680 --> 0:23:41.600 like friends with everybody. How about Steve Queen? Do I 0:23:41.640 --> 0:23:44.159 ever tell you that I gave Steve McQueen's last right 0:23:45.359 --> 0:23:47.520 That was me? That was me? Yeah, I was like 0:23:47.520 --> 0:23:55.760 two years before I died. It was me. So I 0:23:55.800 --> 0:23:58.760 actually don't think that Fred would enjoy a mocktail. But Holly, 0:23:58.840 --> 0:24:01.399 what do you have for us? Um? Yeah, since he 0:24:01.520 --> 0:24:04.919 was not apparently a drinker, except he'd been arrested for 0:24:05.280 --> 0:24:08.359 public drunkenness at some point in life, it wasn't a drinker. 0:24:08.400 --> 0:24:12.800 At some points he was reformed perhaps maybe maybe well 0:24:12.800 --> 0:24:15.040 this one you can drink it in the reformed version 0:24:15.160 --> 0:24:19.000 or not. Um. And it's a super simple mocktail that 0:24:19.040 --> 0:24:22.840 I'm calling pure rascality. I'm glad to use that word 0:24:22.880 --> 0:24:25.639 because it's so perfect for him. It's an one of 0:24:25.680 --> 0:24:27.959 the easiest ones I've ever done. But I kind of 0:24:28.000 --> 0:24:30.639 threw it together like as my early test, thinking what 0:24:30.720 --> 0:24:32.800 am I going to add to this? And I liked 0:24:32.840 --> 0:24:35.040 it so much in its basic form that every time 0:24:35.080 --> 0:24:37.440 I tried to add something, I was like, nope, nope, nope, 0:24:37.480 --> 0:24:41.000 this takes away from what we achieved initially. It is 0:24:41.040 --> 0:24:45.680 literally just four ounces of pink lemonade and four ounces 0:24:45.720 --> 0:24:49.520 of ginger beer. And the reason I love this is 0:24:49.600 --> 0:24:52.080 because if you are one of those people that likes 0:24:52.080 --> 0:24:55.000 the sensation of drinking a cocktail, you know that that 0:24:55.080 --> 0:24:57.399 inherent little bit of like bite or sting that you 0:24:57.440 --> 0:25:00.320 get from alcohol content or whatever, but you're not You're 0:25:00.320 --> 0:25:03.320 not drinking for whatever reason. The ginger beer kind of 0:25:03.359 --> 0:25:06.479 gives you the illusion of drinking an alcoholic drink when 0:25:06.520 --> 0:25:09.680 you're not getting it totally totally. And it's also just like, 0:25:10.040 --> 0:25:13.000