The death of Mehran Karimi Nasseri on Wednesday left Hollywood legend Tom Hanks in a melancholy mood. Following the man’s passing, Hanks gave a heartfelt tribute of him.
Iranian refugee Mehran built his home in Terminal 1’s departure area after misplacing his refugee passport and having his application to enter France turned down.
He would subsequently serve as the inspiration for the 2004 movie “The Terminal,” which starred Tom Hanks as an Eastern European man who was forced to live in the terminal of the John F. Kennedy Airport, after being refused entry into the United States.
Tom posted a picture of Mehran in an airport scene next to an advertisement for the movie The Terminal, which also starred Catherine Zeta-Jones, to his Facebook page.
In a heartfelt tribute to his buddy, the actor who played Forrest Gump said the following: “We are heartbroken to learn of the tragic demise of Charles de Gaulle’s Mehran Karimi Nasseri, also known as Alfred. The traveler claimed, “The airport is not that bad. ”
Tom disabled the comment option for his post, but it still attracted a lot of reader attention, garnering more than 21,000 likes in under 30 minutes.
Mehran was forced to live in the airport since he had nowhere else to go after accidentally mailing his paperwork to Belgium after misplacing his documents and losing them. He had initially intended to apply for asylum in the UK after being expelled from Iran for taking part in protests.
He lived there from 1988 to 2006 as his place of residence. He was ejected from the airport by force in 2006 because he needed medical assistance. He then spent some time in a hotel before being sent to a homeless shelter in Paris.
After a while, Mehran returned to residing in the airport. Sadly, he suffered a heart attack while he was there, and this past Saturday, at the age of 76, he passed away.
In the airport’s departure lounge, where he frequently studied economics throughout his life and also regularly received meals from travelers, he was frequently seen.