Alan Abel

Alan Irwin Abel was an American hoaxer, writer, and mockumentary filmmaker famous for several hoaxes that became media circuses.

Born on August 2, 1924, in Zanesville, Ohio,  Abel graduated from the Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Science in education. One of Abel's earliest pranks took place in the late 1950s; he posed as a golf professional who taught Westinghouse executives how to use ballet positions to improve their games.

Abel died on September 14, 2018, at his home in Southbury, Connecticut, from complications of cancer and heart failure.