- Allegra Coleman
Allegra Coleman was a fictional celebrity invented by writer Martha Sherrill for the purposes of a hoax magazine article. Model
Ali Larter portrayed the imaginary model in Sherrill's feature which appeared in "Esquire" (November 1996).A parody of celebrity profiles, the article described an upcoming movie with
Woody Allen , her tempestuous relationship withDavid Schwimmer (including a scandal involving nude photographs supposedly taken bypaparazzi ) and her friendship withDeepak Chopra . The hoax was revealed by "Esquire" editor Edward Kosner in a press release to the news wire services.Sherrill later wrote a satirical novel on Hollywood life which featured Allegra Coleman as a prominent character. The novel, "My Last Movie Star," was published by
Random House in 2003.Reaction
Response to the affair was perhaps less vigorous than the magazine's publishers might have hoped for, given that the article was, in essence, a publicity stunt. Some responses focused on the ethics of the affair; Schwimmer's friends were reported to have complained of the invasion of privacy involved in using the actor's fame. Writing in "
Salon ", David Futrelle commented that the affair seemed to hearken back to "Esquire"'s mid-1960s heyday. A writer onsuck.com noted that the Coleman satire was essentially indistinguishable from the normal run of the magazine's celebrity reporting.The incident jump-started Ali Larter's acting career, and she went on to many TV shows, movies ("
Legally Blonde ", "Final Destination ") and the role ofNiki Sanders in NBC's "Heroes".References in popular culture
The 2005
romantic comedy film , "Hitch", featured a character named Allegra Cole (played byAmber Valletta ), the love interest of Albert Brennaman (played byKevin James ). In the movie, Cole is a very famous model whose name was likely chosen as an homage to Allegra Coleman.External links
* [http://www.salon.com/media/media961101.html "Dream On" by David Futrelle. "Salon" (November 1, 1996)]
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