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Hollywood loves a happy ending, but the truth is often messier. Join us as we count down the biographical films that conveniently omitted or altered what really happened next. From tragic downfalls to unexpected twists, these stories didn't actually end where the credits rolled. Which real-life epilogue surprised you the most?
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00:00I will never lie to you. I promise you that.
00:04No! All you'll do is teach me to make up stupid stories!
00:08Welcome to Miss Mojo.
00:09And today, we're counting down our picks for the most notably fabricated or omitted details in the resolution of biographical films.
00:18So, even those who know how these movies end are in for spoilers.
00:23You want to know? You have to hire me back. I got a ton of bills to pay.
00:2720. JFK
00:31So, what really happened that day? Let's just for a moment speculate, shall we?
00:37It wouldn't have served Oliver Stone's case to mention what happened to Jim Garrison after the events of the controversial conspiracy epic JFK.
00:46The district attorney's career was devastated by the acquittal of Clay Shaw, whom he accused of conspiring with government officials to assassinate President Kennedy.
00:55His subsequent perjury charge against Shaw was so petty that an injunction was issued.
01:00Let it be noted that my office is charging Clay Shaw with outright perjury on the 15 answers he's given in this courtroom today, not one word of truth having escaped his head.
01:09You're out of order, Jim boy! Now sit down!
01:12Garrison failed to get re-elected in 73 amid widespread scrutiny of his methods, and eventually became a judge.
01:20Still, he's best known for continuing to peddle conspiracy theories in the media.
01:25Even former colleagues suspected that this was Garrison's true objective, noting increasingly flimsy theories and grudges.
01:33With these questions of Garrison's integrity, came further questions of JFK's credibility.
01:39With one half of his mind, he was able to go out and fabricate evidence.
01:43Then by some osmosis, he was able to convince the other half that the fabrication is the truth.
01:48Well, I wouldn't worry about it, Liz. There's only about 20-30 million people watching this tonight.
01:53Number 19. Amistad.
01:55Not much is certain about Joseph Cinque, past the ruling that his 1839 uprising on a slave ship was self-defense.
02:04It is the court's judgment that the defendants are to be released from custody at once,
02:11and if they so choose, to be returned to their homes in Africa.
02:18Amistad ending on his return to Sierra Leone may be either too optimistic or not triumphant enough.
02:26After losing his family in a civil war, Cinque became a prominent figure who worked with missionaries.
02:32His descendants claim he helped Christianize the region. It's also widely believed that he became a successful merchant,
02:56with so many rumors suggesting that the slave survivor even sold his own people.
03:01It's likely that some of his fellow Amistad rebels took up this terrible practice after returning home.
03:07As for Cinque himself, what little we do know about his life could produce another epic film.
03:15I'm afraid to keep you safe.
03:26Number 18. The Aviator.
03:29With what the Aviator shows us, legendary entrepreneur Howard Hughes muttering to himself may say more than any epilogue could.
03:55It would have been that his mental health and expensive ambitions eventually led to him losing control of his empire by the 1970s.
04:03He then became so reclusive that Clifford Irving didn't count on being publicly called out for fabricating Hughes' autobiography.
04:11And despite his severe germophobia, Hughes allowed his health and hygiene to deteriorate,
04:16to where he was unrecognizable upon his death from kidney failure in 76.
04:22Mr. Hughes?
04:29I don't have any shoes.
04:34Could you give me some shoes?
04:35It was indeed more of the same, but knowing that Hughes spent the next 30 years never getting the help he needed
04:42makes the Aviator's ambiguous ending even more devastating.
04:4617. Remember the Titans.
05:05Disney would rather just remember the uplifting parts of the first T.C. Williams High School football team under Herman Boone.
05:12Remember the Titans downplayed his harsh coaching methods, which Greg Paspatis claims were more cruel than disciplinary.
05:20We're going to take a little run through the woods.
05:22If you get lost along the way, don't bother coming back to camp.
05:26Just hitchhike your hind parts on home.
05:29Any questions?
05:30Coach, it's a high school football team.
05:32We're not the Marines here.
05:35Let's go.
05:36Rumors of verbal and physical abuse resulted in Boone's firing in 1979, eight years after the Titans' historic undefeated season.
05:45Even more upsetting is the truth about Coach Bill Yost's adorable little girl Cheryl.
05:50I'm nine and a half, thank you very much.
05:53Why don't you give this little girl some pretty dolls or something, Coach?
05:57I tried.
05:58She loves football.
05:59She died in 1996 of an undiagnosed heart condition at the age of 34.
06:05Coach Yost was also upset that his three other daughters didn't make the cut.
06:09But that just goes to show how Remember the Titans didn't want things too complicated for the audience.
06:15There's always next year or year after that, as long as it takes for them to wise up.
06:20Wouldn't want it now anyway.
06:23Black show rednecks.
06:24Number 16.
06:26Hacksaw Ridge
06:27World War II medic and Christian pacifist Desmond Doss saved around 75 lives from both sides in the Battle of Okinawa.
06:36Hacksaw Ridge ennobled the injuries he sustained as a seemingly minor cost for his heroism.
06:41I never said I was a taxon.
06:45Well, what the hell are you saying, Doss?
06:48You bruised half your body sleeping.
06:49I sleep pretty hard.
06:54In fact, permanent damage to Doss' left arm ended his carpentry career after the war.
07:00And treatment for tuberculosis he contracted during deployment cost him several ribs and one of his lungs.
07:07He even blamed his hearing loss on an overdose and antibiotic treatment.
07:10Doss' wife Dorothy worked as a nurse in order to supplement his meager pension.
07:28Though their good spirits through this hardship was further testament to Doss' strength, his spirit in the battlefield was surely more cinematic.
07:36After what we've just been through, any sane man would be screaming for a weapon.
07:41I never claimed to be sane.
07:43Number 15.
07:45Ed Wood
07:45This is the one.
07:49This is the one I'll be remembered for.
07:51It's not exactly a secret that the ending to Tim Burton's Ed Wood was overly optimistic.
07:58Plan 9 from Outer Space did indeed immortalize the earnest filmmaker behind the ultimate bad movie.
08:03At the time, however, it cemented Ed Wood's bleak artistic and financial reputation in Hollywood.
08:09Hey, it's not that bad.
08:10You can't concentrate on the negative.
08:12Look, he's got some nice things to say here.
08:14The soldier's costumes are very realistic.
08:15That's positive.
08:17Rave of the century.
08:18Well, I've seen a lot worse reviews.
08:20I've seen reviews where they didn't even mention the costumes.
08:22His later filmography consisted entirely of exploitation and adult films.
08:27All the while, he and his wife Kathy struggled with alcohol, depression, and periodic homelessness.
08:32They were living in abject poverty by the time Wood died of a heart attack in 1978, two months after turning 54.
08:41His Oscar-winning biopic is a tribute to the legacy he leaves on cult cinema,
08:46but disregards the sad reality of laughing at someone's work.
08:50I think we should all give a hand to the man without whom we wouldn't be here tonight.
08:57Eddie, take him out!
08:58It's still not as simple as John Nash walking away with his family.
09:26There was no triumphant speech when he accepted his Nobel Memorial Prize in 1994,
09:32as there was concern for pressure on his mental health.
09:35His beloved Alicia was present, but had not been his wife since 1963.
09:39It took about seven years for them to reconcile after the divorce, and another 31 years for them to remarry.
10:02Standing by a loved one with mental illness is harder than Hollywood implies.
10:06The fact remains that John and Alicia Nash supported each other throughout the rest of their lives.
10:12How do you know?
10:14I know because all the data indicates this happened.
10:16But it hasn't been proven yet.
10:17No.
10:17You haven't seen it.
10:18No.
10:18How do you know for sure?
10:21I don't, I just believe it.
10:22Hmm.
10:26It's the same with love, I guess.
10:28Number 13.
10:29My Left Foot
10:30It's hard not to be touched by artist Christy Brown and nurse Mary Carr falling in love at the end of My Left Foot.
10:43That is, unless you're familiar with their marriage.
10:47I'm not afraid of anything.
10:48You imagine that people are afraid of you.
10:49I'm not afraid of you, okay?
10:51You're afraid of yourself.
10:52Brown's deteriorating health and an autopsy following his death in 1981 sparked theories that he was abused by his wife.
11:01Georgina Louise Hambleton's biography, published after the destitute Carr died in 2007, suggests that she neglected Brown, exploited his cerebral palsy, and was a sex worker.
11:14Brown's sister Anne even claimed that he confided in her a fear for his life.
11:20Whether the evidence was solid enough back when My Left Foot was made, it sours the film's inspiring legacy.
11:26Oh, come on.
11:27Look, just let's get this.
11:29You're afraid of me.
11:30We can't talk about this now.
11:30Look, I'm gone.
11:31Why can't we talk now?
11:32Now's a good enough time for me.
11:34Number 12.
11:36Unbroken
11:36From crashing in shark-infested waters to surviving a POW camp, Louis Zamperini overcame a lot in the Pacific War.
11:45But it was a bit early to declare him unbroken when his blockbuster biopic ended with his liberation.
11:51The 2018 independent sequel Unbroken Path to Redemption picks up where that left off.
11:57Zamperini struggled with severe PTSD and alcohol use disorder, which nearly destroyed his marriage.
12:04I'm taking Sissy and I'm going to Florida.
12:06What are you going to do?
12:07Are you going to go home to your parents and tell how stupid you were to marry me?
12:10I can't take care of her and a drunk at the same time.
12:12So what are you saying?
12:18I'm saying I want a divorce.
12:21Only after becoming a born-again Christian was he able to get his life back on track.
12:25He even visited Sugamo Prison in Tokyo to forgive the war criminals who imprisoned and tortured him.
12:32Zamperini continued his athletic and evangelism work until he passed away, just before Unbroken came out, with just half the story.
12:41He kept me alive and threw everything for this.
12:49Number 11.
12:51Conviction
12:52My brother Kenny, he got screwed by the system.
12:56He's been in prison for 12 years' life without parole.
12:59Well, he's innocent.
13:04Okay.
13:05Yeah, I'm going to find a way to get him out.
13:07Betty Ann Waters went all the way to law school to personally clear her brother Kenny of Katharina Brow's murder.
13:14The filmmakers behind Conviction didn't want to leave audiences with the knowledge that this victory 18 years in the making lasted only six months in 2001.
13:23How could you possibly thank your sister for what she's done for you?
13:27I don't know.
13:27How would you thank her?
13:28It's a good question.
13:29Betty Ann, do you have any big cases lined up after this?
13:32No, no, no.
13:33I never really planned on practicing law.
13:35Kenny was walking home when he attempted to jump a fence for a shortcut, only to lose his footing and die in the fall.
13:42Despite this tragic twist of fate, Betty Ann takes comfort in her brother's brief but happy time as a free man and continues advocating for the wrongly convicted through The Innocence Project.
13:54Fifteen years after Conviction's release, Brow's real killer was identified.
14:00Even if it had taken you another 20 years, you know, I would have been okay.
14:05Another 20 years?
14:06Jesus.
14:08I would have lost my mind.
14:09Number 10.
14:12The Motorcycle Diaries.
14:14Based on the memoir of the same name, The Motorcycle Diaries concerns Ernesto Guevara's motorcycle trip across South America, in which he encounters various social and political injustices.
14:25Esos ojos tenÃan una expresión oscura y trágica.
14:30Nos contaron de unos compañeros que habÃan desaparecido en circunstancias misteriosas y que al parecer terminaron en alguna parte en el fondo del mar.
14:38The journey shaped Guevara's outlook and turned him into a political revolutionary.
14:44By its nature as a coming-of-age film, The Motorcycle Diaries says little about Guevara's later life in the epilogue.
14:51Creo que este es una buena ocasión para que Ernesto y Alberto sepan lo agradecidos que estamos con ustedes.
14:59He would come to be known as Che Guevara, a guerrilla leader who helped spearhead the Cuban revolution of the 1950s.
15:07He later held several important positions within the new Cuban government, and his actions helped lead to the infamous Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.
15:16He was eventually assassinated by Bolivian Army Sergeant Mario Tehran, leaving behind a divisive legacy.
15:22Mira, mi, todo este tiempo que pasamos en la ruta, sucedió algo, algo que tengo que pensar por mucho tiempo.
15:35Number 9. Ray.
15:37Unlike many biopics, Ray ends in the middle of the story.
15:41The film spans from Ray Charles' childhood to 1979, when he overcame substance use disorder and received a formal apology from the state of Georgia.
15:51We also offer Mr. Ray Charles a public apology and welcome him back home.
15:56The epilogue then alludes to his other triumphs, not including his controversial 1981 show in South Africa, or his career reviving work with contemporary artists.
16:09It does, however, acknowledge his death shortly before the film's release.
16:15The events in between aren't really important to the story Ray was telling, but they're very telling about Charles' continued relevance in modern music.
16:24What'd you say?
16:25Hit the road, Jack.
16:27And don't you come back no more, no more, no more, no more, no more.
16:31Number 8.
16:32Straight Outta Compton.
16:34While this film mostly remains true to the real story, a few events were fabricated near the end to make for a more emotional conclusion.
16:42Rapper Eazy-E has died after a battle with AIDS.
16:46He was among the most powerful voices of his generation.
16:49For example, Eazy-E is left destitute from the collapse of N.W.A. and the feud with Jerry Heller.
16:56According to publicist Phyllis Pollack and his own son, Eazy died a multi-millionaire.
17:02And speaking of Eazy's death, the movie depicts him suffering a seizure and collapsing during the band's reunion, resulting in his HIV diagnosis.
17:10In reality, Eazy went to the hospital because of a persistent cough.
17:25And as for the brief reunion, Dre reportedly never committed to one before Eazy's passing in 1995.
17:31So what you think, man? You think we could get together or what? What you think?
17:40Yeah, man.
17:41Number 7. Kinsey.
17:43This is a biopic of Alfred Kinsey, an academic sexologist who controversially studied sexual behavior.
17:50You've had absolutely no response during that time.
17:54It's like I'm dead down there.
17:56We went to the doctor and he said there's nothing wrong.
17:59The movie ends on a bittersweet note, as Kinsey falls into drugs and suffers a heart attack while losing financial backing for his research.
18:08My funding has been slashed and my name has been dragged through the mud in every newspaper and magazine across this country.
18:16However, he continues to enjoy a strong personal relationship with Clara McMillan.
18:21The movie ends without delving into the turbulent final years of Kinsey's life.
18:25Unfortunately, he was never able to recover from the intense controversy surrounding the 1953 publication, Sexual Behavior in the Human Female.
18:35After I read your book, I realized how many other women were in the same situation.
18:41Both the drugs and the stress of his collapsing reputation quickly took their toll.
18:46And he passed away from a heart ailment in 1956, just three years after the publication of his contentious book.
18:54Number 6.
18:55The Greatest Showman
18:56It's no secret that The Greatest Showman is a very sanitized version of P.T. Barnum's story.
19:02The feel-good ending that sees Barnum reuniting with Charity was completely made up for the movie, as they remained happily married until her death in 1873.
19:19And they remained happily married because the real Jenny Lind did not have a romantic attraction to Barnum, and therefore did not kiss him on stage.
19:26Furthermore, playwright Philip Carlyle did not selflessly give Barnum his money to open a new circus, as Philip was completely made up for the movie.
19:45Partners.
19:4850-50.
19:56Following Charity's death, Barnum married a woman 40 years younger than him, and he eventually died of a stroke in 1891.
20:04Number 5.
20:05The Imitation Game
20:07The ending to The Imitation Game is a tragic one indeed.
20:11After helping to end World War II with his revolutionary computer, Alan Turing undergoes degrading treatment under the UK's anti-gay laws.
20:20The medication?
20:22Well, the judge gave me a choice.
20:25Either two years in prison or hormonal therapy.
20:31Oh my god.
20:32This leaves him mentally devastated, and he takes his own life in 1954.
20:36However, this supposed fact has long been questioned.
20:41Turing, reportedly, had little problem with his hormone treatments, which greatly contrasts with his depressive state in the film.
20:48Furthermore, Turing expert Jack Copeland posits that Turing accidentally died from inhaling potassium cyanide while melting gold.
21:09But even this thesis has its detractors, including biographer Andrew Hodges, who argues that Turing staged the scene as an accident to placate his mother.
21:20Unfortunately, the truth remains ambiguous.
21:28Number 4.
21:29The Social Network
21:30The primary theme of The Social Network is loneliness.
21:34You're going to go through life thinking that girls don't like you because you're a nerd.
21:39And I want you to know from the bottom of my heart that that won't be true.
21:44It'll be because you're an asshole.
21:46While Mark Zuckerberg creates the most popular social media site in the world, he simultaneously and ironically suffers from loneliness and isolation.
21:56In the end, he is seen repeatedly refreshing a friend request sent to his ex-girlfriend, desperate for any sort of human contact.
22:03This makes for a great and meaningful ending, but it's totally fabricated for storytelling purposes.
22:15The real Zuckerberg has been with his now-wife Priscilla Chan since 2003.
22:19This was the same year that he created the rating site FaceMash, a crude precursor to the now-iconic social media site.
22:27By the time Facebook went public in 2006, Zuckerberg and Chan had been happily dating for years.
22:41Number 3.
22:42Finding Neverland
22:43A beautiful movie about family, Finding Neverland follows the relationship between author J.M.
22:49Barry and the Davies Boys.
22:51George Llewellyn Davies shall test the very limits of the atmosphere using his tethered craft.
22:55Go on, boy.
22:57Understandably, the movie ends before the tragic fates of the Davies Boys could be revealed.
23:02The story concludes with the death of Sylvia Davies, which occurred in 1910.
23:07I thought she'd always be here.
23:12So did I.
23:12Five years later, George was killed during World War I.
23:27In 1921, Michael drowned with his friend and possible lover, Rupert Buxton.
23:32Barry believed it was a pact and called Michael's death the end of him.
23:37Jack died from a lung disease in 1959, and his younger brother, Peter, took his own life
23:43just seven months later after his entire family was diagnosed with Huntington's disease.
23:48So much for childhood innocence.
23:50Magic's gone out of it a bit now, hasn't it?
23:52Number 2.
23:53Braveheart
23:54A thrilling and epic piece of cinema, Braveheart is, nevertheless, a travesty of history.
24:01While quite a brutal film, it downplays the severity of William Wallace's grotesque demise.
24:06Wallace suffers a degree of pain and suffering before famously yelling,
24:10Freedom!
24:12Freedom!
24:21And getting the axe.
24:23In reality, Wallace received a particularly hideous method of execution reserved for cases
24:28of high treason.
24:30Wallace was dragged naked through the streets of London before he was executed in Smithfield.
24:34We won't go into details, but suffice to say, it was significantly nastier than what is
24:46depicted in the film.
24:48Pleasant.
24:49Yes.
24:50Despite its notoriously graphic violence, Braveheart wanted to at least grant Wallace some dignity
24:56in death.
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25:12Number one, Erin Brockovich.
25:17Underdog stories don't get much more Hollywood than that of Erin Brockovich.
25:22Her legal victory against the Pacific Gas and Electric Company for contaminating Hinkley,
25:26California, launched a high-profile advocacy career.
25:29As I was saying, I decided that the figure you proposed was inappropriate, so I increased
25:40it.
25:43We all know about Brockovich's story after her biopic came out, but not many know about Hinkley's
25:49before.
25:50PG&E's $333 million settlement was insufficient for the more than 600 plaintiffs after the lawyer's
25:57usual 40% cut.
25:59Their options were limited because the case never went to trial.
26:02Please, now the point we have to address tonight is getting everyone to agree that going binding
26:08arbitration is preferable to a trial that could go on for 10 years before you see any money.
26:14Maybe some of us want to wait 10 years.
26:17Depopulation followed, and the small town's housing market collapsed as the whole world associated
26:22it with permanent environmental damage.
26:24Hinkley was essentially doomed from the beginning, but that's rarely the best way for a movie to
26:31end.
26:32By the way, we had that water brought in special for you folks.
26:35Came from Well and Hinkley.
26:37What are some other biopics with more story to tell?
26:41Share your epilogue in the comments.
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