THE NEW YORK TIMES. Frank Serpico's 1971 testimony on police corruption in New York fueled the most extensive investigation of police wrongdoing in the city’s history. The son of an Italian immigrant from Marigliano (Naples), his loud, idealistic campaign -- which inspired the 1973 Hollywood success "Serpico," with Al Pacino -- made him "a pariah on the force," but also made the N.Y.P.D. "a thousand times more honest than it was 40 years ago." He lives today in a one-room cabin he built in the woods near the Hudson River, with no TV or Internet.
"True to his cinematic self -- writes the New York Times -- he always showed up in a different outfit and hat: one day as the sheepherder, the next day the prospector, then the monk. He wears an earring in each ear and a magnifying glass around his neck for fine print. He would spout esoterica and draw from his knowledge of Italian, Spanish, German, Dutch, Arabic and Russian. In a coffee shop, he might quote from Dante’s “Inferno,” or pull out his harmonica and play “Danny Boy.” (Read the article by Corey Kilgannon.)