Top 10 Alter Egos

Human beings are not one-dimensional and sometimes we need another persona to express different facets of our personality. They also make terrific drama! Some are comic; some are terrifying. Some are misguided. There are things that only the alter ego could get away with. In some cases it is hard to distinguish which character is really the alter ego. In no order, we present the top 10 most famous alter egos.

Hannah Montana / Miley Cyrus/Stewart

Young teenagers, or tweenies, as they’ve come to be known need a role model to hang their fantasies on and most parents prefer one that isn’t a pierced, tattoo wearing rock god. Hence, the Disney Hannah Montana show is a hit with all the family. Miley Cyrus plays ordinary schoolgirl, Miley Stewart, who transforms into her alter ego, Hannah Montana, the famous pop star. Only her family and best friends know about her secret double life. Real life Dad, Billy Ray Cyrus, plays Miley’s TV Dad, Robby Ray Stewart. It’s not an old school nuclear family as Robby Ray is a single parent, though a widower and not a divorcee. The franchise has produced a range of merchandise and Hannah Montana: The Movie.

Sasha Fierce / Beyonce

Like Garth Brooks, Beyonce is an immensely successful recording artist. She left Destiny’s Child behind to forge a solo career and branched out into movies. She too wanted to present a different persona to the world and the I Am…Sasha Fierce album came out in 2008. The two-disc album had multi-platinum sales and the single; Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) reached Number 1 on Billboard. Beyonce said that she developed this alter ego on stage. She co-wrote the tracks, a mixture of mainstream pop, sensual ballads, traditional R&B, and 1980s style electro pop. Beyonce wanted to explore her romantic side and her more aggressive side. The record was well received by the critics and the fans.

Chris Gaines / Garth Brooks

Country music star Garth Brooks enjoyed terrific record sales and mainstream success when he decided to take a risk. He could have coasted along but came up instead with the idea of an ‘alternative rock star’ called Chris Gaines. The original intention was to feature this alter ego in a movie and Chris was given a detailed back-story but the project was eventually abandoned. The album, Garth Brooks in…The Life of Chris Gaines came out in 1999 and reached Number 2 in the pop album chart. He also appeared in a mock documentary for the series, Behind the Music. Despite this exposure, the experiment was deemed a failure, as most fans wanted the old Garth Brooks back. Chris Gaines disappeared, never to be seen again.

Dame Edna Everage / Barry Humphries

Australian comedian Barry Humphries created the forerunner of Dame Edna in the late 1950s, perfecting the character in stage revues and one-man shows. Describing herself as a simple suburban housewife, she is instantly recognizable in her homeland, in the UK and in America. Television appearances brought her brand of satire into the mainstream. Everything about Dame Edna is over the top, her lilac hair, incredible dresses and Sydney Opera House spectacles. Her ego knows no bounds and she claims to be a mentor to the famous. The audience is privileged to learn about her intimate family life, which she shares with husband Norm and four grown up children. Best friend Madge would often accompany her on stage, as would a huge bouquet of gladioli.

Ali G / Sacha Baron Cohen

Comedian and actor Sacha Baron Cohen was born in London to an orthodox Jewish family. It is rare to see him as himself and his alter egos, such as Borat and Bruno are controversial. It was Ali G that launched him into stardom. He is a young man from the inner city, immersed in Jamaican culture and way of speaking. In fact, it’s a satire on a certain kind of white man who wants to be black. He is a ridiculous figure of fun but Cohen uses him to ask provoking questions in interviews with authoritative people, such as politicians. The fact that the interviewees are under the impression that they are engaged in a legitimate interview, adds another layer of humor. Victims of his interviews include Donald Trump, Buzz Aldrin, John McCain and Gore Vidal. A feature film, Ali G Indahouse in which Ali G enters Parliament, followed the TV show.

Tony Clifton / Andy Kaufman

Andy Kaufman was no ordinary comedian and he always divided audiences. His brand of surrealism and performance art was hilarious to some and bewildering to others. Audiences never knew what to expect. Sometimes, he would read a book to them or he might launch into a near perfect Elvis impersonation. He took the idea of a cheesy lounge singer and turned it on its head with Tony Clifton. Tony would swear, abuse the audience and forget the lyrics. He was boorish and impossible to like. It was so convincing that many people thought that he was a real person. One of Kaufman’s other alter egos was Foreign Man, which evolved into Latka Gravas, as seen on the Taxi sitcom. One of Kaufman’s demands when he was cast in Taxi was that Tony be given a guest spot on the show, as if Tony was, indeed an actual person. Tony had a tantrum on set and was fired! Kaufman took the idea of an alter ego to a new extreme, blurring reality and fiction.

Ziggy Stardust / David Bowie

The reason for Bowie’s long career, apart from raw talent, is his ability to constantly re-invent himself. His artistry has found expression in a number of alter egos, namely Aladdin Sane, the Thin White Duke, and most famously, Ziggy Stardust. This alien visitor, bearing a message of peace, was the poster boy for androgynous Glam Rock. The Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars album was released in 1972 and Bowie took it out on tour. Soon, the fans were copying the clothes, hair and make up. It was a concept album with a loose narrative, containing the tracks, Starman, Suffragette City, Rock n Roll Suicide, in addition to Ziggy Stardust. Ziggy self-destructs and Bowie retired him, to move on to his next re-incarnation.

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band / The Beatles

It was 1967 and the Summer of Love. The new Beatles album could be heard through every open window. The band had stopped live performances and could take their time in the studio. Paul McCartney had the idea of an alter ego, an opportunity for the most famous musicians in the world to play as a fictitious unit. The leader of the band was introduced as Billy Shears (Ringo Starr) and he provided the vocal for With a Little Help From My Friends. The four band members, each with their mustaches, were photographed in their brightly colored, satin military uniforms. Each album came with cut outs of mustaches, sergeant stripes and badges. The cover, with the cardboard models of famous people, was assembled by the British artist, Peter Blake. The record is considered a classic and produced the songs, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, She’s Leaving Home, and A Day in the Life.

Clark Kent / Superman

There could be an entire list of superheroes but Superman is one of the most iconic. His appeal to fans has never waned since his first appearance in the 1930s. Certain elements have been brought in to modernize him but the familiar features are still there. Clark Kent is the spectacle wearing ‘mild mannered’ reporter for the Daily Planet. When the occasion demands, he changes into his costume in a phone booth and flies to the rescue. It’s a reassuring world, where the bad guys are caught and the citizens are safe under his protective cape. There’s a love interest too in the shape of feisty Lois Lane. His vulnerability to Kryptonite makes us warm to him all the more.

Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde

The Victorians were fascinated by Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella about a dual personality. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was published in 1886 and many stage and film adaptations followed, most notably the 1941 movie starring Spencer Tracy. Stevenson was intrigued by the human psyche and the inner battle between good and evil. One night, a dream gave him the inspiration for the character of Dr. Henry Jekyll, a kind physician who experiments with a potion to isolate evil. On drinking it, he becomes Mr. Edward Hyde, a cruel and violent man who stalks the streets of London at night. The tale influenced many psychological novels and science fiction stories to come.

Top 10 Heists and Robberies

When it comes to the amount of sheer planning, creativity, and outright lunacy that goes into them, few crimes rival the high profile, multi-million dollar heist. And when you consider the colorful characters and criminal masterminds behind these robberies, it’s easy why these crimes continue to be the subject of constant speculation and fascination. Whether the work of teams of highly trained thieves, lowly bank managers, or even a powerful dictator, here are ten of the biggest and most bizarre heists and burglaries in history.

10. The Great Train Robbery

One of the most famed heists in popular culture, The Great Train Robbery was one of the biggest robberies of all time when it was committed in 1963. The heist took place in Buckinghamshire, England, when a mail train transporting millions of pounds was boarded by a team of 15 robbers. The thieves used a fake signal light to stop the train, and after subduing the workers inside the first two carriages, loaded 120 mail bags containing 2.6 million pounds into some cars they had hidden near the tracks. The men all escaped the scene, but 13 of them were quickly captured following an extensive investigation by Scotland Yard. Two of the these men, Ronnie Biggs and Charlie Wilson, would later escape from prison and flee the country. Wilson was caught four years later in Canada, but Biggs famously eluded capture by hiding out in Brazil, and he was only apprehended when he turned himself in to authorities in 2001.

9. The Agricultural Bank of China Robbery

2007’s Agricultural Bank of China Robbery resulted in the theft of 51 million yuan (roughly $7 million U.S.), and it is said to be the biggest robbery in China’s history. The scheme started when the bank’s manager, Ren Xiaofeng, stole 200,000 yuan from the vault. His unlikely plan was to use the money to buy massive amounts of lottery tickets in the hope of winning a cash prize and returning the money before it was reported missing. Amazingly, the plan worked, and Ren made a huge profit off of his gamble even after returning the 200K. After enlisting the help of another manager, Ma Xiangjing, Ren proceeded to steal nearly 33 million yuan a year or so later, and a month after that another 18 million. In both cases, the men spent nearly all the money on lottery tickets, but they were only able to recoup 98,000 yuan, and the missing money was quickly noticed and reported. Ren and Ma were eventually captured, but very little of the stolen money was ever recovered, thanks to the astronomical amounts the duo had spent on lotto tickets.

8. The Great Brinks Robbery

When it was committed in 1950, the $2.7 million Brinks Robbery in Boston, Mass. was the biggest heist in American history. Dubbed “the crime of the century,” the heist was the work of an 11-man gang who used copied keys to gain entry into the Brinks Building. Once inside, they made their way to a room where employees were counting money, and after subduing the armed guards, collected $1.2 million in cash, along with another $1.5 million in checks and securities. The gang’s plan had been to sit on the money for six years, at which point the statute of limitations for armed robbery would have run out, but a police investigation quickly started turning up suspects. After a few of the men were arrested, the criminals started turning on one another, even going so far as to hire hit men and attempt drive-by shootings on suspected snitches. Eventually, though, all eleven of the original robbers were found out and arrested, and many received life sentences in prison.

7. The Gardner Museum Art Heist

In the biggest art heist in history, two men dressed as police officers managed to con their way into the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum in Boston late one night in 1990. Once inside, the men overpowered the few guards on duty, tied them up, and left them in the basement. They then proceeded to steal several pieces of artwork by Rembrandt, Degas, Manet, and Vermeer, along with a few sculptures and historical artifacts. The total haul is now valued at $500 million, but both the thieves and the artwork have yet to be found. A number of possible suspects have been considered, from Boston crime boss James “Whitey” Bulger to the IRA, but no arrests have been made in connection to the case. Enough time has passed that the statute of limitations on the actual heist has passed, leaving the Gardner Museum art heist as one of the most successful and mysterious robberies of all time.

6. The Central Bank Of Iraq Heist

For sheer amount of currency stolen, no robbery compares to the Central Bank Of Iraq heist, which is said to have been perpetrated by none other than Saddam Hussein. The robbery happened just before the U.S. bombing of Iraq in 2003. In the middle of the night, a small group of men led by Hussein’s son, Qusay, went to the Central Bank with tractor-trailers and forcibly withdrew just under 1 billion dollars cash. Nearly $650 million of this was eventually found stashed in the walls of Hussein’s palace by U.S. soldiers. A handwritten note was later discovered linking Saddam and his son to the heist, but just who the other men involved were or what became of the remaining $350 million remains a mystery.

5. The Baker Street Burglary

The Baker Street burglary took place in London in 1971, when a team of well-equipped thieves tunneled into the Baker Street Bank and stole 3 million pounds worth of cash and valuables from safety deposit boxes. The criminals used a combination of metal cutting tools and explosives to tunnel to the vault from a nearby shop, and even had a lookout positioned on a nearby rooftop. Near the end of the heist, a ham radio operator overheard some of the lookout’s radio transmissions and contacted the police, who frantically searched over seven hundred banks within the area in hopes of honing in on the location of the transmission. They were unable to catch the robbers at the time, but nearly two years later a number of men were charged in connection with the robbery, though police believe the true mastermind behind the crime was never captured.

4. The Harry Winston Heist

One of the most downright brazen robberies in recent memory, the Harry Winston Heist went down in 2008 when a group of four men stormed into one of Paris’s most exclusive jewelry stores and made off with $108 million in diamonds. The men were disguised as women and armed with a .357 Magnum and a hand grenade. They quickly herded the employees and customers into a corner and started breaking open display cases, and after filling a suitcase with precious stones, made their escape. No one from this robbery has been arrested, but police suspect that the robbers– whom they’ve nicknamed “The Pink Panthers”– are a part of a larger criminal organization of Yugoslavians that may have been responsible for a number of other high profile jewelry heists. In the meantime, a $1 million dollar reward is still up for grabs for any information leading to the arrest of the thieves.

3. The Knightsbridge Security Deposit Robbery

One of the boldest and most successful robberies of all time, the Knightsbridge Security Deposit heist happened in London in 1987, when career criminal Valerio Viccei and a small group of accomplices armed with guns managed to make off with 60 million pounds in valuables and cash from safe deposit boxes. The thieves got into the vault by pretending to rent a safe deposit box of their own, and once inside they managed to overpower the employees and security guards and start breaking into the boxes. They escaped without incident, but a bit of blood left behind at the scene allowed police to trace the robbery back to Viccei, who was wanted for a huge amount of robberies in his native Italy. Viccei’s accomplices were quickly arrested, but he fled the country and for some time eluded capture. A known playboy and high roller, he was only arrested after he returned to England in an attempt to retrieve his prized Ferrari sports car.

2. The Banco Central Burglary

Considered to be among the biggest bank heists of all time, the Banco Central burglary took place in 2005 in Fortaleza, Brazil. The robbery was the result of painstaking planning by a small gang of burglars who tunneled over 250 feet to the bank’s vault from a nearby property. The robbers used a landscaping business as a front for their operation, an ingenious cover that allowed them to move massive amounts of dirt and rock out of the tunnel without looking suspicious. The tunnel itself was expertly constructed, and was said to have sophisticated lighting and even an air conditioning system. After three months of digging, the thieves finally broke into the vault and made off with over 165 million in Brazilian reals, or $70 million dollars U.S. Since then, police have made a number of arrests in connection with the burglary, and recovered roughly $9 million dollars of the haul, but the majority of the suspects are still at large.

1. The Antwerp Diamond Heist

Antwerp, Belgium is one of the diamond capitals of the world, with 80 percent of the world’s diamonds passing through the city before being sold on the market. A number of heists have taken place there, most recently a still-unsolved $28 million robbery in 2007, but the biggest of them all took place in 2003, when a team of master criminals known as the School of Turin managed to walk away with $100 million in uncut diamonds from the Antwerp Diamond Center vault. For sheer scope, ingenuity, and risk, few robberies will ever measure up to this one. The criminals had been planning the heist for years, and using copied keys and faked security camera footage, they managed to bypass the vault’s multi-million dollar security system, which had been thought to be impenetrable. The thieves escaped without incident, but DNA left at the scene allowed them to be tracked to Italy, where most of the gang has since been captured. The $100 million in diamonds, meanwhile, seems to have disappeared for good.