Howard Hughes/Image: Library of Congress via Wikipedia
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Clifford Irving's "Authorized Biography" of Howard Hughes Liz Smith and Candice Bergen both recall the Clifford Irving/Howard Hughes hoax — Candice remembers the case mostly for its chutzpah. As the story goes, writer Irving convinced McGraw-Hill that the reclusive Hughes had authorized him to write Hughes's biography. Mary Wells remembers the script unfolding "like a movie" and Whoopi Goldberg thinks back to when "everybody believed it was real." Later, the truth came to light when Hughes came forward and Irving confessed.