The World’s Greatest Con Man Spun A Lie That No One Saw Coming

But before Spielberg’s hit film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, there was a book called Catch Me If You Can. Published in in 1980, this book was actually written by Frank Abagnale Jr. himself, and it claimed to be a semi-autobiographical work exposing some of his shocking criminal exploits. And there was an interesting disclaimer at the start of the story. It went, “This book is based on the true-life exploits of Frank Abagnale. To protect the right of those whose paths have crossed the author’s, all of the characters and some of the events have been altered, and all names, dates and places have been changed.”

Then, when Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can came out 22 years later, Abagnale proudly vouched for its version of events. He wrote the foreword when the movie’s screenplay was published in a book, and in it he claimed that the film was 90 percent accurate. Was it, though? Like a lot of Hollywood movies based on real-life events, it condensed and simplified some things right from the beginning.

For a start, Abagnale’s father, Frank Abagnale Sr., wasn’t remotely like how he’s portrayed in the film. In the movie, the older Abagnale teaches his son the ways of the conman, but in reality he didn’t at all approve of his son’s life of crime. And there was no happy ending for him, either; according to Abagnale Jr., his father died after falling down a subway station staircase.

And Tom Hanks’ character, FBI Agent Carl Hanratty, never existed at all in real life. Apparently, he’s loosely based on a real person, Special Agent Joseph Shea, who pursued Abagnale and ended up befriending him. But Hanratty in the film also shares traits with the other real-life FBI agents who sought Abagnale.