MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

He could have been the world’s most well-known homeless particular person. Mehran Karimi Nasseri was an Iranian nationwide who lived at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport for 18 years. He died over the weekend on the age of 77. NPR’s Eleanor Beardsley has his story.

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ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: For a person who by no means reached his closing vacation spot, he impressed numerous artwork – an opera, a e book and two motion pictures, together with Steven Spielberg’s 2004 movie “The Terminal,” starring Tom Hanks.

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CATHERINE ZETA-JONES: (As Amelia Warren) Are you headed for residence?

TOM HANKS: (As Viktor Navorski) No, I’m delayed a very long time.

CHANTAL KREVIAZUK: (Singing) ‘Trigger I am leaving on a jet airplane.

BEARDSLEY: However the actual lifetime of Mehran Karimi Nasseri was not as comfortable because the Hollywood model. Nasseri was born in 1945 from a short liaison between an Iranian father and a British mom who by no means acknowledged him. On the age of 43, he left for Britain to attempt to discover her. However after Iranian officers stripped him of his passport and he had no different id papers, he was unable to remain in Britain. He was expelled from Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, too. However in 1988, France allowed Nasseri to remain so long as he remained within the airport. Right here he’s talking in 1999.

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MEHRAN KARIMI NASSERI: I feel no person can dwell 11 years in such a scenario. I’m distinctive immigration case.

BEARDSLEY: Nasseri grew to become a widely known determine. Airport employees fondly referred to as him Sir Alfred. Surrounded by his possessions on an airport sofa, he did interviews with the media and obtained mail from passengers hoping to fulfill him on a layover. He was handled by airport physician Philippe Discount.

PHILIPPE BARGAIN: (Talking French).

BEARDSLEY: “In a short time, he had a community of individuals round him who favored him and helped him,” stated Discount. He was the primary citizen of Charles de Gaulle Airport. Regardless of finally getting refugee standing in France, Nasseri by no means needed to go away the airport. He was lastly pressured to in 2006 to be hospitalized. He lived on the surface for a number of years in a hostel. However in September, Nasseri returned to dwell at Charles de Gaulle Airport one closing time. He was discovered useless Saturday in Terminal 2F. Eleanor Beardsley, NPR Information, Paris.

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