Man Whose Story Inspired Spielberg Movie Dies
(ConservativeHub.com) – The man whose story inspired the 2004 Steven Spielberg-directed movie “The Terminal” passed away on November 12. Mehran Karimi Nasseri died of a heart attack at Terminal 2F of the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, France. He had just returned to live in the airport in September. The 77-year-old had been at a nursing facility previously.
Nasseri had given varying accounts of his past and how he became a fixture at an airport. But airline officials confirmed he was a refugee from Iran. His home country allegedly threw him out for being a protestor. The United Nations High Commissioner conferred refugee status to him from for Refugees in 1981, allowing him to travel around Europe.
He got stuck in the Paris airport in 1988 because he lacked the proper travel papers, which he claimed someone stole. They let him fly to England, but authorities there sent him back. He was not allowed to leave, and staff put him in a holding area where he waited as the days turned to months.
Eventually, Nasseri settled into living in the airport and stayed there for 18 years, from 1988 to 2006. He had a makeshift home and slept on a bench, and the airport staff looked after him and gave him food and toiletries. He eventually received the proper paperwork and left the airport.
After his death, the star of the film, Tom Hanks, posted on Instagram to pay his respects. He said he was “sad to hear” about the man’s passing and wrote in quotes, “‘The airport is not that bad,'” before adding that Nasseri knew it better than anyone.
Nasseri had said in previous interviews that he liked living at the terminal. So, it’s only fitting that he got to spend his final days in the place where he felt most at home.
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