Alan Abel facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Alan Abel
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Alan Abel (second from left) in 2005, with his daughter, wife, and Jeff Hockett
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| Born |
Alan Irwin Abel
August 2, 1924 Zanesville, Ohio, U.S.
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| Died | September 14, 2018 (aged 94) Southbury, Connecticut, U.S.
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| Alma mater | Ohio State University |
| Spouse(s) | Jeanne |
| Children | 1 |
Alan Irwin Abel (August 2, 1924 – September 14, 2018) was an American hoaxer, writer, and mockumentary filmmaker famous for several hoaxes that became media circuses.
Born on August 2, 1924, in Zanesville, Ohio, Abel graduated from the Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Science in education. One of Abel's earliest pranks took place in the late 1950s; he posed as a golf professional who taught Westinghouse executives how to use ballet positions to improve their games.
From 1966 to 1967, Abel wrote a weekly syndicated humor column "The Private World of Prof. Bunker C. Hill" that appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle and several other newspapers.
Abel wrote, produced, and directed the mockumentary The Faking of the President (1976).
In 1979, Abel staged his own death from a heart attack near the Sundance Ski Lodge. A fake funeral director collected his belongings, and a woman posing as his widow notified The New York Times. The Times published an obituary January 2, 1980 (a rare example of a premature obituary). On January 3, 1980, Abel held a news conference to announce, "[the] reports of my demise have been grossly exaggerated".
Abel died on September 14, 2018, at his home in Southbury, Connecticut, from complications of cancer and heart failure.
Documentary
In 2004, his daughter Jenny Abel, along with Jeff Hockett, made a documentary film of Abel's life called Abel Raises Cain, which played at the Boston Independent Film Festival and the 2005 Slamdance Film Festival, where it won first prize for Best Documentary. It has been released on DVD.
Books
- The Great American Hoax (1966)
- The President I Almost Was by "Mrs. Yetta Bronstein" (Abel and his wife) (1966)
- Confessions of a Hoaxer (1970, Macmillan)
- The Fallacy of Creative Thinking (as Bruce Spencer, 1972)
- The Panhandlers Handbook (as Omar the Beggar, 1977)
- Don't Get Mad, Get Even (1983, Sidg. & J)
- How to Thrive on Rejection (1983, W W Norton & Co Ltd, as W. W. Norton)
See also
- Joey Skaggs, a more recent performer of media hoaxes including Cathouse for Dogs (1976)
