Mehran Karimi Nasseri, Iranian Who Inspired Tom Hank film 'The Terminal,' Dies in Paris Airport. An Iranian man who inspired the Tom Hanks film The Terminal has died at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport where he lived 18 years of his life.
Script reports that Merhan Karimi Nasseri died after a heart attack in the airport's Terminal 2F around midday Saturday, citing an official with the Paris airport authority. He was reportedly treated at the scene but sadly passed away.
Karimi Nasseri's life story is literally the stuff of a blockbuster movie after he ended up living in Charles de Gaulle Airport's Terminal 1 from 1988 until 2006, initially because he lack residency papers but later simply because he liked it there.
In 1999 he was granted refugee status and the right to remain in France. Karimi Nasseri was 77 years old.
