What Happened To Catch Me If You Can's Frank Abagnale Jr. In Real Life?
Sometimes, a story is so good that it skirts past the limitations of truth and enters the public consciousness as a kind of modern myth. Such is the case of Frank Abagnale Jr., the co-author and subject of "Catch Me if You Can," its 2002 Steven Spielberg film adaptation, and the subsequent Broadway show. All three versions claim to be based for the most part on Abagnale's real life — his time as a young con man forging checks across America and Europe and faking his way as everything from a Pan Am pilot to a U.S. attorney. As is often the case, though, reality is much less exciting than the myth Abagnale has become. "Catch Me If You Can" doesn't tell you everything about the true story.
When you're played by Leonardo DiCaprio at the peak of his cultural powers, it's hard for anyone to erase your dramatized version of events. One of the things you may notice after rewatching "Catch Me If You Can" is that Abagnale has a small cameo in the film. However, in the years since the movie's release, Abagnale — who as of this writing is still alive and running his own longstanding security consulting firm – has been the subject of intense scrutiny.
Several investigative journalists have dug into the claims he's made about himself and his criminal exploits since the premiere of "Catch Me If You Can," and they've revealed a troubling but unsurprising truth: Most of the things the self-espoused con man claims to have done may never have happened at all. And yet, despite overwhelming evidence that he's a complete fraud, Frank Abagnale Jr. has continued to live a high-profile life of celebrity status and expensive speaking engagements.
Frank Abagnale's story isn't what you think
If you've read "Catch Me If You Can" or seen either the film or stage adaptation, you're familiar with the core beats that make up the myth of Frank Abagnale. As the story goes, he began a life of white-collar crime while still a teenager, stealing cars and forging checks through his late teens. His more outlandish claims include working as an assistant state attorney general in Louisiana, a pilot, and a pediatric doctor in Georgia for years at a time, all without proper credentials. He also states that his forged checks totaled up to $2.5 million. These various accounts, as well as a series of daring escapes from the authorities, make up the exciting subject matter of "Catch Me If You Can."
And yet, as time has gone on, it seems that fewer of Abagnale's stories have real grounding. His claims of passing the bar and working in the Louisiana attorney general's office have been widely discredited, as has his claim of working as a pediatrician. There is no record of Abagnale serving time in the United States Penitentiary, Atlanta, from which he claims to have escaped. Additionally, the value of confirmed fake checks he passed totals far less than the $2.5 million he's always claimed.
These are far from the only holes that have been poked in the story over the years. Yet, it's hard to question Abagnale's legitimacy as a con man.
The real con of Catch Me If You Can
There is some truth to the ending of "Catch Me If You Can." Frank Abagnale Jr. was arrested numerous times for various schemes, he forged checks, and he did attempt to pose as a pilot, though not nearly to the degree of success depicted in the film. His work with the FBI has also been questioned.
However, the real con was turning a life of failed minor crimes into a celebrity account worthy of Hollywood and Broadway. These days, Abagnale's speaker fees are reported at upwards of $20,000 per engagement. He's been paid to speak at Google, and in 2022, he received an ethics award from Xavier University. Despite his claims that he primarily targeted banks and big businesses, numerous individuals and small business owners have come forward to relay their accounts of Abagnale scamming them. While posing as a pilot at Arizona State University, he conducted private interviews with female students under the pretense of hiring new stewardesses.
In 1982, shortly after the print release of "Catch Me If You Can," many of Abagnale's accounts were already being thrown into question. In an interview that year with the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, he was asked if his stories in the books were lies. Though he didn't answer directly, he provided the following hypothetical: "Well, then, I'm the world's greatest con man ... as one gentleman said to me, 'If you didn't do all those things, and you've made all this money you've made in advances, royalties, and speaking engagements, then you are in fact the world's greatest con man.'"