All about Mehran Karimi Nasseri, the resident of Paris airport
The internet is abuzz with the news of Mehran Karimi Nasseri's death - the man who lived inside the premises of a French airport for 18 long years. Mehran Karimi Nasseri, 76, whose life inspired Steven Spielberg's film The Terminal, died of a heart attack in Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport on Saturday. Here are some interesting facts to know about Nasseri.
Who is Mehran Karimi Nasseri?
Nasseri was born in 1945 in Iran to an Iranian father and a British mother. At the age of 28, Nasseri left Iran to study in England in 1974. After his return, he was imprisoned for protesting against the Shah and was expelled. He applied for political asylum in several countries in Europe but was rejected due to lack of proper documents.
How he ended up at French airport
After being expelled from several countries, Nasseri arrived in France in August 1988 and settled at the Charles de Gaulle airport's Terminal 2F. Although the French police arrested him, they couldn't deport him anywhere because he had no official documents. Nasseri remained in Terminal 1 from 1988 until 2006, initially due to legal hassles and later by his own free will.
How he shot to fame
Nasseri's extraordinary life inspired Steven Spielberg to make a movie on his story. The latter reportedly paid a rumored $275,000 to Nasseri for the rights to his story. After the release of the Tom Hanks starrer The Terminal (2004), he shot to fame. Journalists would flock to the airport terminal frequently to interview him, and he would sometimes give six interviews a day.
Other depictions in media
Here are other media depictions of his life: GQ magazine published a short story chronicling his life, titled The 15 year layover. British author Andrew Donkin wrote a biography called The Terminal Man in 2004. Philippe Lioret's 1993 French film Lost in Transit. Alexis Kouros's 2000 documentary titled Waiting for Godot at de Gaulle was derived from Samuel Beckett's absurdist drama Waiting for Godot.
