Ferdinand Waldo Demara is quite possibly the most legendary imposter to ever live. This man lied his way into almost every career known to man. Throughout his long life, Demara was a correctional officer, a prisoner, a soldier, a medic, a lawyer, a surgeon, and so much more. All the while being unqualified and his contemporaries being none the wiser. Even after Ferdinand Waldo Demara became famous for fraud, he managed to fake his way into various careers. It’s hard to believe how good he was at lying. This is the wild story of Ferdinand Waldo Demara.
Where Do Imposters Come From?
Demara was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, in 1921. Ferdinand, or Fred as his friends called him, always struggled to stay committed to his schooling. He enjoyed playing pranks on the townspeople more than anything else. Eventually, he got to the point where he didn’t see the value in school anymore and dropped out at 16. He ran away from home and tried to become a monk in Rhode Island.
photo courtesy of Wikipedia
A Journey Like None Other
Ferdinand Waldo Demara didn’t make it long as a monk. They weren’t too keen on the lies. But, like most things in the life of Demara, he moved on to something new quickly. Over the next several years, Fred served in the United States Army then the Canadian Navy. Later, he became a psychology professor, an orderly in an LA sanitarium, and a college instructor under aliases complete with fake credentials and birth records. Of course, it didn’t last forever, and he ended up getting caught for impersonation. But it didn’t stop there. After serving 18 months at the Naval Disciplinary Barracks, Demara was back at it. The second phase of his impersonation career was even wilder than the first.
Ferdinand Waldo Demara Gets Famous
Demara went right back to his old ways. He snuck his way into life as a law professor and joined a Catholic brotherhood. At this brotherhood, he met Joseph C. Cyr, a Canadian surgeon who recently moved to the States. Cyr enlisted Ferdinand to help him finish the immigration process. So, Demara and Cyr sat down with all of Cyr’s legal documents, and just like that, Ferdinand had everything he needed to become Joseph Cyr. So that is what he did.
As Dr. Cyr, Demara returned to Canada just in time to enlist as a surgeon in the Korean War. For most of his wartime experience, he was stationed on base. During the time on base, Demara convinced all the other surgeons that he was composing a field guide for lumberjacks to perform life-saving surgeries on one another. He requested that they assist him in his endeavor by providing step-by-step instructions in plain English for numerous procedures. He told them that he too was making additions to the manual, but of course, he was not.
The war picked up, and Ferdinand Waldo Demara was called into duty on the Pacific front. While onboard, a Canadian destroyer Demara was called upon to extract a tooth from a Naval Captain. He consulted his lumberjack guide and successfully completed the surgery. However, it did not stop there. He then was called upon to remove a bullet from a Korean militant. Again Ferdinand referenced the lumberjack guide and saved the soldier’s life. News spread quickly, and Joseph Cyr became a war hero. Papers published his story with pictures of Demara as Cyr.
That’s Not My Son
Joseph Cyr’s mother was thrilled to hear the news of her son’s life-saving procedure. She was shocked, however, to see that the picture in the paper was not her son. She alerted authorities and the Canadian Navy to avoid an international public relations nightmare, deported Demara, and agreed to silence the story.
15-Minutes of Fame Again
What’s better than 15-minutes of fame? A second 15-minutes of fame. A reporter for Life magazine heard of Demara’s story and his successes as an imposter. He reached out to Demara and got him to agree to sell his story to the magazine reluctantly. It was a nationwide sensation and sparked a movie inspired by his life. Ferdinand was cast to play himself, but when Ferdinand showed his acting skills to be subpar, he was replaced by an actor he was not a fan of. With his acting career stalling out and his ability to lie about his identity shaken by his fame, Demara retired from the imposter way of life.
Who Stays Retired Anyway?
After a few short years, Ferdinand Waldo Demara fell back into obscurity. With his newfound anonymity, Demara fell back into his lifelong pursuit of impostorism. During this run, he founded a college, served as a correctional officer, became a lawyer, and a civil engineer, just to name a few. It didn’t last long, though. He eventually settled into his passion for ministry and went to school to be a Pastor. For the first time in his life, he earned his degree truthfully and became the Pastor of a church in Washington. He wouldn’t finish his career at this church, but he would finish as a Pastor. It took him his whole life to find out who he wanted to be.
Conclusion
Ferdinand Waldo Demara is arguably the greatest impersonator of all time. He stole identities, faked identities, and worked his way to the top of numerous job ladders with little to no credentials. So, next time someone tells you that you can’t do something, tell them to look at the life of Demara. If he could be literally everything, then you can be that one thing you want to be. There are so many more crazy twists to this story. Hear those in this episode of the Things I Learned Last Night podcast.
Things I Learned Last Night is an educational comedy podcast where best friends Jaron Myers and Tim Stone talk about random topics and have fun all along the way. If you like learning, and laughing a whole lot while you do, then you’ll love TILLN. Watch or listen to this episode right now!
Sources
Ferdinand Waldo Demara – Wikipedia
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