Barry Bremen was a West Bloomfield, Michigan, insurance and novelty goods salesman and marketing executive known in the sports world as The Great Imposter. From the period 1979 to 1986, the 6'4", "lean" Bremen posed as a Major League Baseball umpire in the World Series, a player in a Major League Baseball All-Star Game, a player in a National Basketball Association All-Star Game, a referee in the National Football League, a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, and a professional golfer died from cancer he was , 64.. He also posed as an Emmy Award accepter.Bremen was a self-proclaimed jock who regularly played touch football, basketball and softball. His wife Margo, in a 1980 People magazine profile of the imposter, said Bremen was "fulfilling a grand fantasy to be in the limelight. He feels if you have no guts you have no glory in your life." His advice to other impostors: "Don't do it. It's against the law. Stay away. This is my act."
(June 30, 1947 – June 30, 2011)
Sports impersonations
Basketball
On February 4, 1979, Bremen donned a Kansas City Kings uniform and got onto the floor during pre-game warmups for the NBA All-Star Game at the Pontiac Silverdome. (He was outed by genuine All-Star Otis Birdsong, who really did play for Kansas City: "How come you're on my team, and I don't know you?")Bremen repeated that act in a Houston Rockets uniform at the 1981 All-Star Game at the
Baseball
On July 17, 1979, with the help of telecaster Dick Schaap and Kansas City Royals third basemen George Brett, Bremen snuck onto the field dressed in a New York Yankees uniform at the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, held at the Seattle Kingdome. Bremen shagged flies in the outfield for a half hour and attempted to pose for a group picture with future Hall of Famers Brett, Reggie Jackson, Joe Morgan, Mike Schmidt, Gaylord Perry, Dave Winfield, Steve Carlton, Nolan Ryan, Carl Yastrzemski, Lou Brock, and Tommy Lasorda. Bremen was finally spotted and ushered off the field.[5] He tried again, hiding out in the Mariners clubhouse whirlpool bath, until Seattle Mariners (and AL) trainer Gary Nicholson had him ejected from the premises.[3]Bremen dressed as an umpire at a 1980 World Series game and he walked out to home plate with actual umpires Harry Wendelstedt (NL), Don Denkinger (AL), Paul Pryor (NL), Bill Kunkel (AL), Dutch Rennert (NL), and Nick Bremigan before he was discovered.[5]
In 1986, wearing a New York Mets uniform, Bremen again shagged flies in the outfield during the All-Star pre-game at the Houston Astrodome.[3]
Football
On December 16, 1979, Bremen posed as a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader at a Cowboys-Redskins game held at Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas. In preparation, Bremen lost twenty-three pounds, practiced drag routines with his wife, had a replica Dallas Cowboys cheerleader uniform custom-made, shaved his legs and bankrolled the project with $1,200 of his own money. During the game, Bremen burst onto the sidelines in boots, hot pants, falsies and a blond wig. He got out only one cheer — "Go Dallas!" — before Cowboy security had him hogtied and handcuffed. The Cowboys hit Bremen with a $5,000 lawsuit for trespassing and creating a nuisance, and petitioned to have him banned from Cowboy games for life.[4]In 1980, Bremen posed as a line judge referee at Super Bowl XV at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans.[6]
In 1982, Bremen, dressed as the San Diego Chicken, was stopped from entering Super Bowl XVI at the Pontiac Silverdome.[3]
Golf
At the 1979 U.S. Open, Bremen (who had a 7 handicap)[2] sneaked in at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, and played a practice round with Wayne Levi and Jerry Pate.He returned for an encore at the 1980 U.S. Open at the Baltusrol Golf Club, where he played so poorly in a practice round that a spectator asked the United States Golf Association's P.J. Boatwright, Jr. how such a lousy golfer had made it through qualifying.[2]
In 1985, Bremen played a practice round with Fred Couples, Jay Haas, and Curtis Strange at the U.S. Open at the Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Scouting the course early in the week, Bremen was introduced to Couples, then an up-and-coming pro. "I had a great chuckle with him," Couples said. "[Bremen] said, 'Obviously, I can't tee off with you, but I'll find you out there.'"[2] A friend of Bremen's — an Oakland Hills member — smuggled Bremen's clubs and caddie into the club. Bremen, wearing a disguise and claiming to be a qualifier named Mark Diamond, went in search of Couples, who was playing a practice round with Haas.
Couples remembers:
Bremen said that out of all of his stunts, he was proudest of his golf antics. "I was out there for the longest time," he said proudly, "and I was never caught."[2]
Emmy Awards
At the 1985 Emmy Awards in Pasadena, Bremen suddenly arose from a front-row seat and accepted from a confused Peter Graves a Best Supporting Actress award for Hill Street Blues actress Betty Thomas.[3] Bremen was arrested and fined $175 for his stunt. He later apologized to Thomas, telling her he had really thought she wasn't there to accept her award.[1]"Retirement" and death
In 2005, Bremen claimed to be retired from gatecrashing ("You've heard of the Taser gun? You've heard of 9/11? They don't ask questions anymore") but wouldn't rule out a final bow at a future U.S. Senior Open. "Could there be an opportunity when I'm 60? Yeah," he said.[2] (He since turned 60 and did not attempt any reported impersonations.)Bremen died of esophageal cancer,[1] leaving behind his wife Margo and three children.
No comments:
Post a Comment