Author of hoax book on Howard Hughes
SARASOTA, Fla. — Clifford Irving, whose scheme to publish a phony autobiography of billionaire Howard Hughes created a sensation in the 1970s and stands as one of the all-time literary hoaxes, died after being admitted to hospice care. He was 87.
Irving’s fifth wife, Julie Irving, confirmed that he died Tuesday at a hospice near his Sarasota home, the New York Times reported. She said he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer about a week ago.
A novelist of little note in 1971, Irving conned McGraw-Hill publishers into paying him a $765,000 advance for a book about the reclusive Hughes. His ruse became the subject of the 2006 movie “The Hoax,” starring Richard Gere.
Irving served 17 months in federal prison for fraud after Hughes emerged to condemn the work as a fabrication. The bogus autobiography wasn’t published until 1999, when it was printed as a private edition.
The scam “was exciting. It was a challenge. It became an adventure,” Irving told the Los Angeles Times in 2007.
The International Herald Tribune called the fake autobiography “the most famous unpublished book of the 20th century.” Time magazine dubbed Irving “Con Man of the Year” in a 1972 cover story.
Irving said the idea of fabricating an autobiography of Hughes came to him after reading a magazine article about the billionaire’s eccentric lifestyle. Hughes’ hermitlike obsession with his privacy all but guaranteed that the “gorgeous literary caper” would succeed, Irving wrote in “The Hoax,” his 2006 account of the scheme.
At the time of the hoax, Hughes had long withdrawn from his life as a powerful industrialist, aviator and filmmaker. He reportedly lived the final 10 years of his life, from 1966 to 1976, in near-total seclusion.
Hughes’ intense aversion to publicity gave rise to skepticism about Irving’s claims to have interviewed the billionaire.
Irving insisted that he had several clandestine meetings with Hughes. He submitted to a liedetector test and produced documents purportedly from the billionaire, including a handwritten letter written to McGraw-Hill.
The letter, forged by Irving, was deemed authentic by handwriting analysts hired by McGraw-Hill. At that point, the publisher decided to move forward with the book.
The deception unraveled when investigative reporter James Phelan, writing a book about Hughes, recognized passages of his work in an excerpt from Irving’s manuscript of the autobiography.
Irving and his collaborator, Richard Suskind, were indicted on fraud charges and were found guilty in June 1972. In addition to his prison term, Irving returned the $765,000 advance to McGraw-Hill. Suskind was sentenced to six months and served five.