Frank Abagnale Jr'S Net Worth, Age, Wife, Family, Books, Movies

*Not specious or counterfeit: genuine. Meet the real Frank Abagnale Jr., the former bé man once hunted by the FBI and immortalized in the film Catch Me If You Can. Learn how he has tried lớn redeem himself over the past 30 years & how his true life is playing out, for the good, in Charleston

*Not specious or counterfeit: genuine. Meet the real Frank Abagnale Jr., the former bé man once hunted by the FBI & immortalized in the film Catch Me If You Can. Learn how he has tried khổng lồ redeem himself over the past 30 years & how his true life is playing out, for the good, in Charleston

“Frank Abagnale is one of those people I’d follow to the ends of the Earth,” says longtime friend & retired FBI special agent Al Malinchak, without detecting the irony. Forty years ago, Malinchak’s fellow FBI colleagues were saying, and doing, the same thing, but for different reasons. The bureau’s fraud busters were hunting Abagnale across continents, following him from city to city, from bad check to worse check, khổng lồ the ends of their wits. That was then; this is now.

Bạn đang xem: Frank abagnale jr's net worth, age, wife, family, books, movies

Then Frank Abagnale was a wanted man, a world-class imposter, a wily teenager who pulled off incredible guises as a Pan Am pilot, an Atlanta pediatrician, a Brigham Young professor, an assistant attorney general for the state of Louisiana. He was an accomplished paperhanger, scamming banks of some $2.5 million in a five-year spree of brilliantly contrived kiểm tra fraud. Back then he was a criminal, a mere kid—only 21 years old by the time the FBI finally caught him, at the ends of the Earth, in a small French town in 1970.

Now he’s a grown man, a wizened soul, though the residual twinkle in his knowing eyes hints of a tamed tomfoolery. He’s a husband of 33 years, a father of three adult sons, a proud grandpa. Then he was a swift-talkin’ slippery felon; now he’s a world-class secure-document consultant, antifraud expert, và compelling motivational speaker. Now Malinchak và many others would “follow him lớn the ends of the Earth,” not because a high-stakes chase is on, but because Frank Abagnale has caught their admiration and earned their utmost respect và friendship. “He may have a very colorful & notorious past, but Frank has ended up being one of the most genuine and generous people you’ll ever meet, as a professional & as a human being,” adds Malinchak, who served as chief of the FBI’s Investigative Training Unit before retiring.

Now you, too, might follow Abagnale—or at least pass him walking along a Charleston sidewalk, on his way lớn a local restaurant or lớn his wife and son’s siêu thị on George Street—in his new hometown. And even here, & now, Abagnale remains one of the FBI’s most wanted men—wanted as a speaker, teacher, & advisor to lớn FBI field agents and financial industry executives across the country, work that he has done for the last 35 years.

DiCaprio plays Frank Abagnale posing as a Pan Am pilot in the 1960s. “My uniform was my alter ego,” Abagnale wrote in his book. “Whenever I felt lonely, depressed, rejected, or doubtful of my own worth, I’d dress up in my pilot’s uniform & seek out a crowd.”

A New Spin

These days Frank Abagnale isn’t interested in racking up millions of airline miles (Pan Am estimates he amassed more than a million, khổng lồ 26 countries, during his “Skywayman” scam) or even millions of dollars, though he—legally & legitimately—still does pretty well on both accounts. “I’ve got seven million miles on American, & another couple million on Delta, & believe me, there’s absolutely no glamour in flying anymore,” he deadpans.

Abagnale’s not even particularly gung ho about rehashing the infamous exploits that gained him international notoriety, though he’s a silver-tongued storyteller with bank loads of material. His tales of fast thinking and fast women, of clever cons, thrilling escapes, & nightmarish incarceration made a riveting best seller out of his autobiography, Catch Me If You Can (ghost-written by Stan Redding in 1980), và a blockbuster hit for Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, & Leonardo DiCaprio in the 2002 DreamWorks film adaptation.

Soon these tales are about khổng lồ get a new spin, & snappy song and dance routine, as a Broadway musical slated to open next spring. The production, by Tony Award-winning playwright Terrance McNally with a score by Marc Shaiman và Scott Wittman of Hairspray fame, previewed to rave review last summer in Seattle and is already stirring Tony chatter, which means that Abagnale’s shady past will once again be in the limelight. But that’s not what Frank is interested in. (If you are, rent the movie or read the book, or order your tickets now before the musical sells out.) Anyway, the sequel is much more compelling.

Xem thêm: Top 8 Máy In Ảnh Mini Cho Điện Thoại, Top 5 Máy In Ảnh Mini Tốt Nhất 2021

“That period was only five years of my life. I was just a teenager, but the truyền thông never focuses on what I’ve done since,” notes Abagnale, who for just this reason has heretofore rarely granted an interview. “I’ve turned my life around. That’s why Steven Spielberg loved my story. He loved the redemption angle.” So let’s leave the heists và hoopla behind, và meet the real, circa-2010 Frank Abagnale. Actually, unbeknownst to you, you may have already been introduced—his imprint may well be in your wallet, checkbook, or passport.

After appearing on The Today Show with Tom Brokaw in 1977 as an expert on counterfeit money, Abagnale was invited on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson (above). The segment, scheduled for six minutes, lasted 20.

From Captive to Captivating

After spending five years in prisons in France, Sweden, and the United States, Abagnale received an enticing offer from U.S. Officials—he would be paroled contingent on assisting the feds, without pay, by teaching law enforcement agencies the nefarious tricks of his trade. Abagnale accepted, and for the last 35 years he has fraud-primed every new agent rotating through the FBI Academy and worked with the FBI National Academy instructing law enforcement agencies nationwide. During this cleaned-up career, Abagnale developed a close friendship with Joe Shay, the dogged agent who finally collared the errant youth (he was played by Tom Hanks “to a T,” according to Frank). Shay, to lớn whom Abagnale dedicated his book The Art of the Steal, died last year at age 88. 

“Frank has this incredible intelligence & brings a fresh, comprehensive perspective from both sides of the law. He understands criminal motivation & knows how they operate. He looks at things differently than you and I do,” says special agent Keith Slotter, head of the FBI’s San Diego Field Office. Whereas he once figured out ways khổng lồ make tốt of loopholes, now he spins it the other way—creating solutions to lớn thwart criminal opportunity.

Case in point: it took Abagnale only a quick glance lớn see a flaw in a new ATM prototype a client had asked him khổng lồ evaluate. The machine had a door that electronically opened for users to lớn retrieve their cash. Frank simply took Super Glue, glued the door shut, then sat back and watched as several ATM customers inserted their card, entered their PIN, & waited for their cash. When the door failed to lớn open, they assumed the machine was broken, hit “Cancel Transaction,” và moved to the next machine. After they left, Frank walked up, broke through the glue, and there was the loot—which is why ATM machines today use mở cửa slots for cash delivery, not doors.

Using the same brazen creativity & ingenuity that infuriated financial crime fighters back in the 1960s, Abagnale is now the go-to expert for developing document security products and fraud prevention programs used by more than 14,000 financial institutions. Standard Register Company uses Abagnale-designed security features on car titles, birth certificates, & other documents. He helped develop PrivacyGuard’s credit-monitoring system and the Sanford Uni-ball 207, the only “safe” pen in the world, unalterable by chemicals and solvents, with trăng tròn million sold annually in the U.S. Alone. Abagnale & Associates has a client các mục that reads like a corporate America roll call, from ACE Hardware & Arthur Anderson lớn VISA và Westinghouse. He has published numerous articles & three books on fraud và identity theft prevention: The Art of the Steal, Real U Guide lớn Identity Theft, và Stealing Your Life.

In addition to lớn his pro bono FBI work and his secure-document innovations, Abagnale is a highly sought-after public speaker, by all accounts a powerful & captivating one. He unleashes the same charm & charisma that conned ngân hàng tellers & convinced doctors và lawyers that a teenage high school dropout was one of their professional colleagues and reels his audience in. His delivery is lickety-split slick, fast & smooth, his anecdotes sobering and savvy. & when he gets the chance, Abagnale slips in a poignant message about cherishing family, about being a responsible, caring person. This, lớn him, is the ultimate payoff.