Surrounded by his possessions on an airport couch, he did interviews with the media and received mail from passengers hoping to meet him on a layover. Airport workers fondly called him Sir Alfred. I am unique immigration case.īEARDSLEY: Nasseri became a well-known figure. MEHRAN KARIMI NASSERI: I think nobody can live 11 years in such a situation.

But in 1988, France allowed Nasseri to stay as long as he remained in the airport. He was expelled from Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, too. But after Iranian officials stripped him of his passport and he had no other identity papers, he was unable to stay in Britain. At the age of 43, he left for Britain to try to find her. Nasseri was born in 1945 from a brief liaison between an Iranian father and a British mother who never acknowledged him. TOM HANKS: (As Viktor Navorski) No, I am delayed a long time.ĬHANTAL KREVIAZUK: (Singing) 'Cause I'm leaving on a jet plane.īEARDSLEY: But the real life of Mehran Karimi Nasseri was not as happy as the Hollywood version. (SOUNDBITE OF LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA PERFORMANCE OF DOVE'S 'FLIGHT, ACT III: A PLANE IS COMING!')ĮLEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: For a man who never reached his final destination, he inspired a lot of art - an opera, a book and two movies, including Steven Spielberg's 2004 film 'The Terminal,' starring Tom Hanks.ĬATHERINE ZETA-JONES: (As Amelia Warren) Are you headed for home?

He died over the weekend at the age of 77.

Mehran Karimi Nasseri was an Iranian national who lived at Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport for 18 years. He may have been the world's most famous homeless person.

The terminal catherine zeta jones