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Article: Charlatans and Fraudsters
Fred Demara: The Great Imposter
A man of many faces — and that’s an understatement
Who Was Ferdinand Demara?
Ferdinand Waldo Demara Jr. (1921–1982) was without doubt one of the most prolific impostors in United States history. As soon as one of his personas was exposed, he quickly took on another.
Demara, popularly known as “Fred”, is said to have possessed a photographic memory and an extraordinarily high IQ. He was exceptionally skilled at almost any calling, carrying off so many hoaxes and fooling experts in so many fields that he became known as the “Renaissance Man.”
He could speed-read to “teach” himself and memorize advanced concepts and techniques from textbooks so effectively that he was readily accepted as a brilliant scholar in whatever field he chose.
“Dr French” and “Brother John Payne”
Despite being a high school dropout, Demara joined the Navy, where he trained as a hospital corpsman. However, when he failed to attain the position he sought, he faked his…
