Alan Eddie Conway (10 July 1934 – 5 December 1998) was an English

conman A scam, or a confidence trick, is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using a combination of the victim's credulity, naivety, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibi ...

known for impersonating film director

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...

. Conway and his wife were

travel agent A travel agency is a private Retailing, retailer or public service that provides travel and tourism-related Service (economics), services to the general public on behalf of accommodation or travel supply chain, suppliers to offer different kin ...

s with offices in

Harrow Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England * Harrow, London, a town in London * Harrow (UK Parliament constituency) * ...

and

Muswell Hill Muswell Hill is a suburban district of the London Borough of Haringey, north London. The hill, which reaches over above sea level, is situated north of Charing Cross. Neighbouring areas include Highgate, London, Highgate, Hampstead Garden ...

Early years

Alan Conway was born Eddie Alan Jablowsky in

Whitechapel Whitechapel () is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is the location of Tower Hamlets Town Hall and therefore the borough tow ...

, London on 10 July 1934. At age 13, he was sent to a

borstal A borstal is a type of youth detention centre. Such a detention centre is more commonly known as a borstal school in India, where they remain in use today. Until the late 20th century, borstals were present in the United Kingdom, several mem ...

for theft. Around that time that he began changing his name and fabricating personal histories: among other stories, he told people he was a

Polish Jew The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jews, Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the long pe ...

who had been imprisoned in a

Nazi concentration camp From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps (), including subcamp (SS), subcamps on its own territory and in parts of German-occupied Europe. The first camps were established in March 1933 immediately af ...

. During the 1980s, Conway left his wife for a male lover, who died of

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

. Conway's business collapsed due to neglect, and he descended into

alcoholism Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...

. He turned to crime to support himself.

Kubrick impersonation

Conway's impersonations of director

occurred during the early 1990s, at which time Kubrick had been withdrawn from public view for about 15 years. Although Kubrick had worn a full beard since the 1960s, whereas Conway was always clean-shaven, the time gap meant that many accepted Conway's deception. Conway convinced figures in the entertainment industry that he was the famed director, promising roles in films and exclusive interviews, and conned others into paying for meals and drinks, claiming his studio would reimburse them.

Frank Rich Frank Hart Rich Jr. (born June 2, 1949) is an American essayist and liberal op-ed columnist, who held various positions within ''The New York Times'' from 1980 to 2011. He has also produced television series and documentaries for HBO. Rich is ...

, a theatre critic for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', was taken in by Conway's act in Joe Allen's restaurant when he invited Conway and his friends to join him at his table. Rich later said that he believed Stanley Kubrick was homosexual after meeting Conway. Rich and his journalist friends were excited at the prospect of an exclusive interview with Kubrick, only discovering the truth after contacting executives at Kubrick's studio

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

, who were aware of the scam but had been unable to identify the imposter. When Kubrick's lawyer informed Kubrick of the

impostor An impostor (also spelled imposter) is a person who pretends to be somebody else, often through means of disguise, deceiving others by knowingly falsifying one or more aspects of their identity. This is in contrast to someone that honestly belie ...

, Kubrick was highly amused by the idea. Kubrick's wife,

Christiane Christiane or Christianne is a given name, derived from the Latin ''Christiana'', the feminine form of ''Christianus'' (see Christian). It can also be a Latinized version of Middle English '' Christin'' 'Christian' (Old English ''christen'', from L ...

, was less impressed, she later reflected: "It was an absolute nightmare. This strange

doppelgänger A doppelgänger ( ), sometimes spelled doppelgaenger or doppelganger, is a ghostly double of a living person, especially one that haunts its own fleshly counterpart. In fiction and mythology, a doppelgänger is often portrayed as a ghostly or p ...

who was pretending to be Stanley. Can you imagine the horror?" Conway was tracked down in part through the efforts of Kubrick's personal assistant, Anthony Frewin, who went on to write the screenplay for the film ''

Colour Me Kubrick ''Colour Me Kubrick: A True...ish Story'' (U.S. title: ''Color Me Kubrick'') is a 2005 comedy-drama film directed by Brian W. Cook and written by Anthony Frewin. It stars John Malkovich as Alan Conway, a British con-man who impersonated dire ...

'' (2005), starring

John Malkovich John Gavin Malkovich (born December 9, 1953) is an American actor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and ...

as Conway. Conway was interviewed for the 1997

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

TV series ''The Lying Game: The Great Pretenders'', and was the subject of the 1999

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

documentary ''The Man Who Would Be Kubrick''. Conway died of a heart attack on 5 December 1998, three months before Kubrick's own death (also from a heart attack) in March 1999.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conway, Alan 1934 births 1998 deaths 20th-century English criminals Impostors Confidence tricksters People from Whitechapel 20th-century English Jews English gay men English criminals Gay Jews 20th-century English LGBTQ people

Early years

Kubrick impersonation

See also

References