Alan Conway

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Alan Conway (born Eddie Alan Jablowsky in Whitechapel, London in 1934; died December 5, 1998) became known for impersonating the film director Stanley Kubrick. Conway and his wife were travel agents with offices in Harrow, Muswell Hill and London.

Contents 1 Early years 2 Kubrick impersonation 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Early years

At the age of 13 Conway was sent to borstal for theft. Around this time, he began frequently changing his name and inventing personal histories. Among other stories, he told people he was a Polish Jew who had been imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp.

During the 1980s Conway (who was gay)^[1] left his wife for a lover, who later died of AIDS. Conway's business soon collapsed and he fell into alcoholism.

[edit] Kubrick impersonation

Conway's impersonations took place during the early 1990s, by which time Stanley Kubrick had largely withdrawn from public view. He convinced several entertainment figures that he was the famed director, promised them roles in films and dined out on his claims.

Frank Rich, a famed Broadway critic for The New York Times, was taken in by Conway's act in Joe Allen's restaurant when they invited Conway and his friends to join him at his table. Frank Rich was so taken with Conway's act that he later said that he thought Stanley Kubrick was homosexual after meeting Conway. Rich and his journalist friends were excited at the prospect of an exclusive interview with 'Stanley Kubrick' but later found out that he was in fact an impostor after contacting Warner Brothers.

Kubrick's lawyer found out that there was someone impersonating him and, when he informed Kubrick of the impostor, Kubrick was said to be fascinated by the idea. Stanley Kubrick's wife, Christiane, was less taken with the idea, as she later reflected "It was an absolute nightmare. This strange doppelgänger who was pretending to be Stanley. Can you imagine the horror?"^[2]

Conway's story of impersonating Stanley Kubrick became the basis for the film Colour Me Kubrick starring John Malkovich.

Conway died in 1998 of cardiac thrombosis.

[edit] See also

• Colour Me Kubrick

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• "The counterfeit Kubrick". guardian.co.uk. 1999. http://film.guardian.co.uk/Feature_Story/Observer/0,,30123,00.html. 

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