The man, the myth, the legend. We've collected some of the wildest facts about the one and only, Ernest Hemingway.
The man, the myth, the legend. We've got some of the wildest
facts about the one and only, Ernest Hemingway.
Thanks to the fine folks over at
Reddit, we've collected some of the most intriguing facts about the alcoholic writer. Enjoy!
1
Zelda Fitzgerald (F. Scott's wife) thought that Hemingway was having an affair with her husband. In a bold move, F. Scott bought some condoms and had sex with a prostitute to prove he wasn't gay.
2
Shortly after his 'death' by plane crash, Hemingway was spotted walking out of the woods, smile on his face, carrying bananas and gin.
3
Actress Ava Gardner once swam naked in Hemingway's pool. He ordered that the water never be changed.
4
His mom desperately wanted twin girls, so she would dress both Ernest and his sister in matching flowered dresses.
5
Hemingway was allegedly a fantastic cook. He had a great burger recipe as well as his famous bacon-wrapped trout.
6
In the 1920s, he and James Joyce would get hammered together. Joyce would then pick fights and then hide behind Hemingway for protection.
7
F. Scott Fitzgerald once asked Hemingway to check his penis. Fitzgerald thought it wasn't a normal size, but Hemingway confirmed that it was just fine.
8
He's credited with inventing the 'Death in the Afternoon' cocktail. The drink is made of champagne and absinthe.
9
He was super paranoid that the FBI was actually bugging his phones and trying to track his movements. It turns out he was right, even though his family and friends thought he was crazy.
10
Back in the day, Abercrombie & Fitch was a very successful sporting goods store. Hemingway actually shot and killed himself with his favorite gun, which just happened to be an Abercrombie & Fitch shotgun.
11
His mom hated 'The Sun Also Rises.' She said he was wasting his talent and that she didn't approve of words like 'bitch' and 'damn.'
12
His third wife, Martha Gellhorn was the only woman at the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. She actually snuck into the bathroom of a hospital ship to get there.
13
Armed with nothing but hand grenades and Tommy Guns, Hemingway took his fishing boat (Pilar) to fight German U-boats in WWII.
14
He survived two plane crashes in two days, and was ultimately (and incorrectly) pronounced dead in 1954.
15
His infamous forehead scar was caused by pulling a skylight down on his head in a Paris bathroom. He thought it was toilet flushing chain.
16
He began going to electroshock therapy for his depression, but would eventually beg his wife not to go back. He committed suicide the day after his 36th shock treatment.
17
Hemingway's siblings also committed suicide.
18
It has been confirmed that he was a failed KGB spy.
19
The dude lived through just about everything. Aside from the two plane crashes he had a fractured skull, skin cancer, malaria, crushed vertebrae, dysentery, and a plethora of other ailments.
20
The running joke was that Hemingway 'pissed so much of his money away' into a bar urinal, that he technically owned it. He literally took the urinal from the bar, and moved it to his home in Key West.
21
Both Hemingway and Walt Disney drove ambulances in World War 1.
