Tuesday, May 07, 2013

A Curious Man: The Strange and Brilliant Life of Robert “Believe It or Not!” Ripley by Neal Thompson

Robert Ripley - A Curious Man from Ripley's Believe It or Not! on Vimeo.

There's a new biography of Robert Ripley and Vanity Fair has an excerpt.

Along the way to international fame, he accumulated knowledge of thousands of oddities, girlfriends from around the world, a curio-stuffed house on a private island—and who could forget that dried whale penis?



A Curious Man: The Strange and Brilliant Life of Robert “Believe It or Not!” Ripley by Neal Thompson promises to be insightful and just as gosh-wow compelling as his long-running panel



Above: Robert Ripley with a long cigarette holder in 1933.

Ripley was an amateur. No formal art training. Regardless, MODERN MECHANIX lists him as the top money-making cartoonist in 1933:


"He was Howard Hughes crossed with PT Barnum; Peter Pan crossed with Marco Polo."

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