Barry Bremen, 'The Great Imposter': No Guts, No Glory

about a man today named Barry Breman. Barry was a businessman who earned a living as a salesman. His specialty was actually as a novelty good salesman, so he would have been selling things like gag toys and whoopee cushions and maybe some pet rocks. My personal fingers are crossed for a lot of wax lips, right, I mean it was it was the time, right, yes, But for seven years of his life from to nineteen eighty six, it was not for being a salesman that he became well known.

He was, in fact known as the great impostor of the sports world. Barry was born on June thirtieth, nineteen forty seven in Bloomfield Hills, which is a suburb of Detroit, Michigan. He loved sports, and he was considered an enthusiastic but amateur athlete while he was growing up and by his early thirties, Barry would also self describe as a professional impostor, and I have quotes around that. So after going to see a lack of confidence was never really a problem

for this man. I so admire his confidence. So we gotta rewind back to nineteen seventy nine to set the stage. Nineteen seventy nine was the year the Iran hostage crisis began, and the most serious nuclear power plant accident in the United States happened that year at Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania. On the much lighter side of the news, Sony introduced the Sony Walkman that year, and if you're curious, Maria, was I actually remember its introduction. I do too that

I didn't remember this piece of it. I did because I had older siblings who I got to when it was released. It costs two hundred dollars, which was incredibly steep, right, which I'm sure is why I didn't realize it at the time. I was little you know, and the Sugar Hill Gangs Rappers Delight became the first rap single to become a top forty hit in V nine was also

the year the very Bremen became a household name. This wasn't all that long ago, but it was an era of high spirited and fun loving pranks, and in particular in sports, and they were totally all publicity worthy. For instance, a woman who called herself Morgana became known as the Kissing Bandit because she was known to run onto Major League Baseball fields um and actually other sporting events too, to plan to kiss or two on unsuspecting players. It sounds so fun and at the time hilarious us. But

today that would be perceived so differently. Yeah, but we'll get we'll get into that in a little bit. So as for Barry, he has been described as equal parts of these three characters. First P. T. Barnum, the showman who founded the Barnum and Bailey Circus. A lot to unpack their We're going to say that Barry was associated

with the more fun association the Shuman Ship. Correct. Second Walter Mitty, who, of course, is a fictional character of an ordinary person who indulges in fantastic daydreams of personal triumphs. And third, the paper Lion era George Plimpton. Oh, George, a writer who at the time was trying different disguises and stunts and writing about them. I still have a crush on George, so I'm not even joking. Let's let's see if Barry matches up to these figures. It's an

interesting trio. So in nine, a strange man in a Kansas City Kings uniform that's a team that's now known as the Sacramento Kings joined the basketball team for pregame warm up, and this prank was what began the legend of Barry Bremen. Impersonating a professional basketball player at the NBA All Star Game in Detroit was one of Barry's first pranks. He We're gonna say, borrowed the uniform and joined the team as they warmed up on the court, and he took several shots before he was outed and

escorted out of the arena. Quote. I did it on a bet, explained Barry. He made his way onto the court at halftime during the game in a uniform with the name Johnson. Quote. There were thirteen Johnson's in the NBA, So it was almost like I fit right in so that I did it on a bet. Part of his quotation, mark, I know it's it's to the media. I know he said it, but I totally think it's a lie with

my so right, maybe that's it. In general, though, the professional athletes that he would get onto the court or the field with, none of them were generally really bothered by any of his antics, and on the contrary, they were kind of taken in by his infectious charm, his charisma, and just his general love of life. That probably also explains why after an air ball and a couple of conkers,

the pros actually started feeding him in the ball. The real players, I mean, at least a few that we know, but we're likely in on some of these antics as well. Also in nineteen seventy nine, ESPM launched on cable televisions. There was only one then, but it was actually a different network that noticed Barry. Sports journalist Dick chap first shown the spotlight on Barry after he crashed the halftime

warm ups of that nineteen NBA All Star Game. Chap actually featured him as Sportsman of the Week on NBC's Today Show, and it did not take long before Barry's anti got him on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson by invitation, not by a prank, and with that, Barri's days of being known as the Great impostor were firmly established. That kick started a tour of TV talk shows, including

Late Night with David Letterman. He went on to become the subject of a Jeopardy question, and his appearances on TV really seemed to tap into the growing appetite that Americans were having for what would later become reality television. But here's what Barry had to say about his television experiences and appearances, and we quote this. What sinched it for me was when Bowling for Dollars called and asked me to be the celebrity bowler my kid's favorite program.

Right right then, I knew I had arrived. I love that. That's the effects of his fame for him. I know he's like Johnny Carson. Right Bowling for Dollars is where we are going to take a quick break for a word from our sponsor, and when we return, we will talk about the time that Barry impersonated a chicken. Welcome back to criminalia. Let's talk about all the times Barry pretended to be a professional athlete, among other things. It was also in nineteen seventy nine. Clearly he was very busy.

That year, Barry warmed up with the American League team for the Major League Baseball All Star Game while wearing New York Yankee pinstripes. That was before he was escorted off the field. The following year, in nineteen eighty, Berry showed up as an umpire at home plate for the World Series. That was when the Philadelphia Phillies and Kansas City Royals were playing. But again that did not last.

He was quickly escorted off the field. Yes, and as Holly mentioned earlier, in two he attempted to crash the Super Bowl while impersonating a chicken, specifically the famous San Diego chicken. But here he was stopped by police before he could actually enter. I guess they noticed the chicken. It's hard to, you know, keep it on the d L when you're walking around in a chicken suit. I

might know that from personal experience. Maybe maybe not. During a nine six batting practice at the All Star Game in Houston, Texas, Barry, who was wearing a new York Mets uniform with the number thirteen on it, but no name. Actually fielded a few fly balls when the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Tommy Lasorda, it's a very recognizable name in Major League Baseball, noticed him, and loss Orta

ran onto the field bat in hand. Again, no surprise if you know anything about Tommy Lasorda shouting and we quote, hey, hey's a whole lot of expletives behind it. That's exactly what I expect from Tommy. Started yes. Lossorta, who was serving as the National League coach for the game, told the media, I knew something was up when he couldn't go to his right. He continued quote, he said he was living his fantasy, and I said it was my fantasy to get his bleep off the field. That's me bleeping.

Before leaving, Barry explained that he just wanted to take batting practice and get one hit. That was all, just one hit. Barry's big dream prank at this time actually was to masquerade as a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. Being Barry, he did it. He lost twenty three pounds and shaved his legs. He practiced routines with his wife and he had a custom made cheerleader uniform mate to pull it off, he probably spent about a thousand dollars, if not a little bit more of his own money. So he made

his move at a Dallas Cowboys Washington Redskins game. In those hot pants boots, he had some breast enhancers and blonde wig. Barry danced with the cheerleading squad during the last two minutes of the game, and he also got out a single cheer of go Dallas before Cowboys security grabbed him. This part of the story that that right there wore is my heart. The image of Barry dancing with the cheerleaders, Like, I just love this part of his story. The team vice president Joseph A. Bailey did

not love it. He called Barry quote perverted, and when Barry called the cheerleader's manager to try to explain that it was all just in good fun, she replied tersely, quote, you are not a female. So the way that Barry played imposter, it's a little different than the way that we talk about other impostors in this season. He didn't

cause himself or anyone else any harm. He didn't do anything physically or financially wrong, but the Cowboys sued him to the tune of five thousand dollars for trespassing and for creating a nuisance. They wanted to ban him from Cowboy games for the rest of his life. Barry's reaction was pretty berry. He said, what are they going to do? Put wanted posters at every entrance? This is ridiculous. I was just having fun, and in the end of the team did drop the lawsuit. This is one of those

things where I kind of see both sides. I fall on the side of fun, but I could see where someone who was not particularly humorous about their job would be very irritated by this whole business. Um amidst Amid start talking about his infiltration of the Cowboys cheerleading squad, we really have to pivot a little bit and talk about Barry's golfing prowess. On three yes, that is correct,

three separate occasions. Barry played golf in the US Open practice round, which is amazing, right, and he actually was considered a pretty good golfer according to the man himself. At least he allegedly had a seven handicap, But great or not, most golfers still do not it to play around with a talent like Jack Nicholas or Fred Couples,

right or he did, but Berry did right. So again in nineteen seventy nine, Barry snuck into the club that was hosting the US Open and he played a practice round with Jerry Pate, who was actually unaware of who Barry actually was. At the US Open in nineteen eighty, he played so poorly that a spectator actually asked that the United States Golf Association's representative how an amateur golfer could make it through qualifying? Um, But it's Barry. So

Barry didn't actually go through qualifying. That's why it was his third time doing this in five where things went well a little differently for him on the golf course. While he was scouting the Oakland Hills Country Club, he happened to meet pro golfer Fred Couples and the two men hit it off, and Couples would later remember Berry saying quote, I had a great chuckle with him. So when it comes to this nineteen event, a friend who was a club member also helped pull off this caper.

He's the one who smuggled Berries clubs and his caddy into the club. Barry were a disguise, which I love, included a fake mustache along with a wig, and he claimed to be a qualifier named Mark Diamond. Once he was in he found Couples, who was playing a practice round with Jay Hass. According to Couples, and this is a long quote, so stick with me, he came out of the shrubs on the second hole and hit this

tea shot that buzzes the spectators. He had on this big wig and advisor and looked a little out of place, but we didn't care. He just did his deal and had a great time. It didn't take long for people to scream out, who's that guy? I mean, the cat was out of the bag after a couple of holes, but we didn't get into trouble and no one came out to get him. I suspect having the pro golfers not really carrying helped a whole lot in terms of security.

At the tenth hole, the threesome turned into a fiveesome, four professional golfers and Barry quote. When we played as a fivesome, according to Barry, that's when I got a little nervous. All they said was we don't mind you playing as long as you keep the ball in play. I think that's fair. I think that's fair good nature right out of all of his stunts, Barry always said that he was proudest of his golf antics. He said, quote, I was out there for the longest time and I

was never caught. He called this particular four and a half hour prank his favorite impersonation quote, no question about it. It was wonderful. He also said, quote during one point, as I was playing, I remember thinking what a great place this is. I mean, is America a great place? Or what? Berry can do crazy things that are completely untoward and still get away with it. So let's just

call them. They're all fun. We're going to take a quick rake for award from our sponsor, and then we'll be back to talk about Barry's stunt, not in the sports world, but at the Emmy's. Welcome back to criminal lya. Okay, let's talk about why Barry needed to apologize to entertain her, Betty Thomas. This is one of Barry's non sports related pranks. He brazenly accepted Betty Thomas's Emmy. This was not a small prank either. It's not like running onto the basketball

court at halftime. Betty Thomas to give you some context, started her acting career alongside Bill Murray, Harold Ramos, and John Belushi on stage every night at Second City. She has started hit TV shows. She moved into directing, eventually giving us such hits as The Brady Bunch Movie and Dr Doolittle, and her two thousand nine film Alvin and the Chipmunks. The Squeak Wol became the first female directed

picture to gross more than two hundred million dollars. It makes her one of the most successful directors of all Tommy, I'm so sorry, squeak one. So this is the first time you encountered the Squeaks as an animation person. I knew all about the well Alvan, I got that, but the Squeak well, I just um, I can go now. I think she definitely has Hollywood credit. But for our purposes, we're talking about the time earlier in her career when Betty landed a role as police officer Lucy Bates on

Hill Street Blues. So this show actually ran between nine seven and Betty received during that time seven yeah, I said, seven Emmy nominations for her work as Outstanding Supporting Actress. But it was this year she took Home and Emmy. That's the five season of the show, and that's also the same year that Barry interrupted it. Yeah, she basically

got nominated every single year for that one. So there's Barry at the thirty seven Annual Emmy Awards in the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, dressed all up in a rented tuxedo with a pink tie and cumberbund He said, quote, I was a little tanned. I looked, Barry, Hollywood. I'm going to interrupt you for a second that if anyone actually wants to google that, there is a photo of Barry at the lectern in his pink tie and cumberbund um

accepting this award. It's very blurry like someone took a screen capture of it, but it exists and it's he was. He was lightly tanned. He later explained that he had gotten into the event with a three hundred dollar ticket that he purchased pretending he was with the media, and with that ticket he ended up in a third row aisle seat. Berry, over the course of the evening, met several celebrity is, including this story about actor Robert Stack.

I told him, Barry said, I was here to accept an Emmy, and I asked him what it was like to work with some of his friends. Barry then continued, he didn't say much. He acted like he knew who I was, but I knew he didn't. So when Betty's name was announced, it was Barry who straight to the lectern and whispered to the presenter, who happened to be the actor Peter Graves, that he would be accepting the

statue on Betty's behalf. But everyone, including Peter, was confused by this, and then it happened, Much to the surprise of everyone on stage and at the event, Barry went ahead and accepted the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, explaining in his short speech that Betty Thomas was unavailable to do so herself. But here's the thing.

Betty was there in the audience. She got up to try to get her award, and by the time she reached the stage, Barry was already wrapping up his acceptance speech with a thing you to sportscaster Dick Chap. Chap, you'll recall, was the first person to put Barry on television as Sportsman of the Week back in ninety nine, after being ushered off stage. Barry recalls that when he was backstage, Betty seemed and we quote Barry startled and

he said to her, I'm sorry, I'm the impostor. He later said that there was no specific reason that he had targeted Betty. Quote. I never met Betty Thomas and I've never seen Hill Street Blues. But when I got up there, I said I had just talked to Betty yesterday, and then I took the award. His act Actually wasn't the first time someone crashed the Emmys, or actually any award show. Robert Opple made history when he streaked across

the stage during the forty Academy Awards. In of all that he had done, this was the biggest trouble that Barry got himself into. He is quoted as saying he was quote going to try to work something out, and he pretty much did just that. He was questioned and booked by Pasadena police, and according to Barry, quote they

got a little pushy for a while. He always spent an hour or two in jail before he posted the hundred and fifty dollar bond, and on his way out, he signed autographs for some of the officers that gives you an indication of the level of celebrity that he had achieved at this point for this impostor business. Absolutely there Later, though, Barry did acknowledge that Betty Thomas deserved an apology from him and that he we quote did not want to take the thunder away from anyone. I

guess I deserved it, right. I mean, you take an award from somebody on Hill Street blues, I guess you should be thrown in jail. And when asked about that hour that he was locked up, Berry replied, well, for starters, I was the only guy dressed in a tuxedo, and then there was the fact that I was conscious, you know,

not drunk about that. Emmy prank Berry continued, quote what I thought I was doing, what I hoped I was doing, was accepting an award for someone who I didn't think was there based on her slow reaction of getting up. He then added, I guess I missed my mark. I should have accepted for Jane Curtin. Jane Curtain was named Best Actress that year in a comedy series that was for the sitcom Katon Alley, but she was a no show. So afterwards, Verry said of the whole affair, and this

is a quote from him. Let me put it this way. From now on, I am going to strictly stay in sports. The ball players are more receptive to these things than actors. I don't know if you had taken a ball players award accepted speech, they may have felt equally chagrined. But

we'll never know. So we're going to jump forward to and that year, Barry told the Associated Press that he was semi retired from his impostor days, mainly, as he said, because he didn't want to be mistaken for the quote real nuts who run onto sports fields for attention or worse. He referenced the knife attack that had happened on tennis star Monica Sellis in as an early game changer for

security breaches. Barry's son Adam, explained that his father did all of these things because it made people smile, but when asked to give advice to people who may also want to try it out, Barry said, and we quote this, don't do it. It's against the law. Stay away, and then he joked, this is my act. You know. I could see where people would want to do the copycat thing. But I think he was mentally ready for the repercussions when things went poorly, and not everybody would be agreed.

And all of this, of course went even deeper than that. In two thousand five, when Barry was asked if he planned to completely retire from his role as the Great impostor, he replied, and we quote, you've heard of the Taser gun, you've heard of nine eleven. They don't ask questions anymore. And he's totally right. Security in a post nine eleven world is not the same as it was in nineteen

seventy nine. It was far less intense then. Although sometimes Barry was arrested, he never spent real time in jail. That there was, you know, a couple hours on that one night after taking the award. He was mostly just verbally reprimanded and then find Today his escapades would be seen differently. They would likely attract attention from far more than sports fans, and quite possibly from organizations like homeland

security or the FBI. So also early two thousand's when the Super Bowl was in Detroit in two thousand and six, the Detroit News asked Barry what he had planned for the big event, and his answer when he he whispered into the phone, was I've been in the stadium for four months. I brought enough food and water. I bought the uniform of every team with a chance to go

into the playoffs. But he couldn't maintain that lie. He was He was fifty eight at the time, and he just started laughing, and he admitted that he actually was planning to stay home comfortably, maybe playing golf and watching the game on TV, a much more low key way to do it. When he was asked what his wife thought of all these pranks, Barry replied, she gets nervous. It's an odd advocation. I am a little different. And when asked what's next, Barry admitted, I have no idea.

Maybe Johnny Carson will ask me to be on his show and they'll say, here's Johnny, and I'll come out, Oh Barry, that would have been funny. So whether he whether he'd chosen life as an impostor or not, the way Barry lived his life demonstrated a joy and a passion that many of us wish we two could have. I do what I do for the fun of it. He was quoted in a Detroit Free Press article that and for the fantasy of just being able to participate

in these incredible events. There's no social significance. I feel like that statement cannot be made today in the era of social media and have any of the same resonance. Very different time. Barry unfortunately died of his off a deeal cancer on June in Scottsdale, Arizona, know where he was living with his wife, Margot. She once described him and his outlook on life as quote, if you have

no guts, you have no glory in your life. After his death, a lot of people spoke kind words about Barry, and we're going to share some of those because he was very clearly quite well loved. So let's start with sports reporter and the son of Dick Schapp. So his name is Jeremy Schapp, and he admitted that he admired Berry's we quote absolute refusal to take no for an answer and his ability to see padlocks and velvet ropes

not as obstructions but as provocations. Uh Neil Ruben, a Detroit News columnist who wrote about Berry on several occasions, remember he lived in Detroit for quite a while, had kept in touch with him over the years, and said quote he was just this guy who sold novelties out of a cluttered office at suburban Detroit, and this was his way to be something different. He never heard anybody

for Barry. It was all about the moment. Let's end with this quote from Rabbi Tamara Colton, who officiated Barry's memorial service. She called him quote more than a man, he's a force. He's a force to remember the part of us that yearns to do something a little different, a little extraordinary, a lot of fun. What the world needs is more forces like Barry. And we actually have

two more stories about Barry, but we couldn't confirm them. Uh, they are still really really great stories, but just remember that they're apocryphal and they're part of his allure, but we don't know if they're true. Right. They came up and maybe maybe one source that we ran into. But one of them is that Barry once sang a song on stage with Harry Tapin, but after two songs, the singer wondered who that guy was. It says a lot about shape spirit of like I don't know what's happening,

but I'm booked for this gig and I'm gonna do it. However, they're trying to do it. I'm just gonna keep singing. The other story is about the time when Barry addressed a gathering of police chiefs. Quote. I pretended to be someone else. I wore a polyester suit, and I spoke on the legalization of prostitution. Everyone just figured I was from Los Angeles or Las Vegas. So I like to think that the singing one may be true, but that the second one doesn't sound as much like Barry to

me as the first one does. But I maybe the very wrong get him in the right mood, right, He's up for it, right. So, speaking of getting us in the right mood, what's our mocktail this week? So this one is one that I'm doing in honor of Barry, and I'm calling Aoidevieve good name for him. I wanted to make something that was very bright and fun and had like a good crisp flavor. So you're gonna start this involves muddling, one of my favorite things. I enjoy

it as well. You're gonna start with six to ten mint leaves, depending on your love of mint. I go heavy because I love them, and you're gonna muddle those. A word of caution about muddling. People tend to like pulverize their mint. No, No, you really just want to press them enough that you kind of break the leaves open lightly to let all of that yummy, yummy mint essence out. But then after you've muddled your mint, you're gonna throw three to four blueberries in there and also

smish them with your muddler. Again, you're not pulverizing, just give them a good smush. On top of that, you're going to add four ounces of passion fruit juice and a half ounce of lime juice, and this should all be in your cocktail shaker, and you're gonna give it a good hard shake, because anything with juice multifies and incorporates better when you give it a good shake. And then you'll strain it over ice, so you don't want

the blueberries and the mint leaves to come with you. Uh, And then you will top it off with a little bit of soda. I like to garnish it with a pretty sprig of like the end of your your mint tendril where they have one of those nice clusters of leaves. This is so delicious and refreshing. It's a little bit tart but it's super duper yummy, and it does give you a sense of joade vie so um for my drinkers in the crowd, you may have noticed that this

share some DNA with a mohito. It certainly does. A mohedo would also involved some muddled mint and some lime juice or some citrus juice, and you would instead put white rum and that so you can, if you want, just add an ounce or an ounce and a half of rum and uh, you know, spin that up and you'll get kind of like a blueberry passioned fruit mohedo out of the deal. Also very delicious and full of joade vive. I bet, I bet it sounds like an

excellent drink. I have made several in the last couple of days, both both with rumen without because they're really really yummy. And I'm like, I got the juice on an it's called testing shure, it's called testing testing andree four or five, six, seven eight, And then I ran out of juice. No I still have some left. Um. I love, I love, I love, I love this drink. It's one of my favorite markbils I've done so far. Excellent.

So hopefully if anybody else tries it, you will feel similarly full of jois uh We We hope that you are experiencing some choas or joy or however you wished to say it these days, and we want to make sure we thank you for spending this time with us. We will see you right here again next week with another impostor. Criminalia is a production of Shawonda land Audio

in partnership with I heart Radio. For more podcasts from Shonda land Audio, please visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,