Join us for a very special film screening of The Great Imposter and Me, directed by Russell Dinallo and written by Jeremy Schaap.
In the late 1970s Barry Bremen was living an ordinary life. A wife and three young kids. A job selling insurance. A house in the suburbs of Detroit. Then, a bet with his buddies at the local Jewish Community Center changed everything.
Donning a Kansas City Kings uniform, Bremen crashed the 1979 NBA All-Star game, warming up on the court with the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Moses Malone and Dr. J. The stunt landed him on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and the Today Show. In the years that followed, Bremen’s fame would grow, as he inserted himself into countless events, including the World Series and the US Open golf championship. He impersonated a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, on Monday Night Football, and accepted a Primetime Emmy award, all as his alter-ego: The Great Imposter.
By 2010, Bremen had returned to a quieter life. Then, an unexpected diagnosis: stage four esophageal cancer. He died on his 64th birthday. For years his wife and three children grappled with the loss. Then, in the winter of 2019 a letter arrived in the mail. It was from a woman in Michigan, and contained a shocking discovery: she was Barry’s daughter—and she was far from alone.
The Great Imposter and Me is a story about fame, family, chutzpah and identity—and how modern reproductive and DNA technology has changed so many lives, and revealed so many secrets.
Part ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,’ part ‘Three Identical Strangers,’ this is the true story of a man famous for his disguises—and his final great reveal.
