The exiled Iranian refugee who inspired Spielberg 's “The Terminal” dies inside Paris airport. The man, Mehran Karimi had returned to live in the public area of the airport after undergoing an operation at a nursing home recently. Though doctors tried to revive him, Mehran Karimi succumbed to the cardiac arrest.
Mehran Karimi’s was born as one of the six children in a household in Teheran. His father was a doctor who died in 1988 after which his mother said she was not his biological parent and that Mehran was in fact born from an affair between his father and a Scottish nurse. Mehran, then 23, was shipped to England via Belgium and France shortly after but could not board a flight or leave the airport after losing his identification papers off the ship.
Meheran lived on a red bench at the airport’s terminal refusing to accept gifts or money except for occasional meal coupons from the airport staff. He also received benefits for the homeless and rights fee from the Spielberg’s 2004 film “The Terminal” his story had inspired.
