https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Geraldine_Elizabeth_CarmichaelGeraldine Elizabeth Carmichael - Revision history2026-10-25T10:00:01ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Geraldine_Elizabeth_Carmichael&diff=398001&oldid=prevWikiDwarfBOT: robot: add new article2023-07-22T09:30:26Z<p>robot: add new article</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|American automobile executive and fraudster}}<br />
{{redirect|Liz Carmichael|the British portraitist|Elizabeth Carmichael}}<br />
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{{Infobox person<br />
| name = Geraldine Elizabeth "Liz" Carmichael<br />
| image = Elizabeth_Carmichael_with_model_of_the_Dale_automobile.jpg<br />
| alt = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software --><br />
| caption = Carmichael, 1974 or 1975, with a model of the Dale automobile<br />
| birth_name = Jerry Dean Michael<br />
| birth_date = <!-- {{Birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} for living people supply only the year with {{Birth year and age|YYYY}} unless the exact date is already widely published, as per [[WP:DOB]]. For people who have died, use {{Birth date|YYYY|MM|DD}}. --> 1927<br />
| birth_place = Indiana<br />
| death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (DEATH date then BIRTH date) --> February 2004 (age 76)<br />
| death_place = <br />
| nationality = American<br />
| occupation = Entrepreneur<br />
| years_active = <br />
| known_for = The Dale 3 wheeled car<br />
| notable_works = <br />
| children = 10<br />
}}<br />
'''Geraldine Elizabeth "Liz" Carmichael''' was an American automobile executive and convicted fraudster. During the [[1970s energy crisis]], Carmichael promoted a prototype for a low-cost fuel-efficient car via [[Twentieth Century Motor Car Corporation]], but fled with investor money.<ref name=liber>{{cite news | title = Libertarian Ripoff of the Month Dept. | url = http://www.mclellansautomotive.com/newsletter/articles/2005/dec/02/1975_05.pdf | work = The Libertarian Forum | date = May 1975 | access-date = 2009-07-01}}</ref> She was captured in 1989, and served 18 months on fraud charges.<br />
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==Early life==<br />
Geraldine Elizabeth Carmichael was a [[transgender woman]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ennis |first=Dawn |title=The Trans Women Behind HBO's Tale Of This Mysterious, Audacious Automaker |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/dawnstaceyennis/2021/06/28/the-trans-women-behind-hbos-tale-of-this-mysterious-audacious-automaker/ |access-date=2022-04-26 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref> who before transitioning had used the name Jerry Dean Michael in Indiana since her birth in 1927.<ref name="Oprah">{{cite web |last1=Vincenty |first1=Samantha |title=The Lady and the Dale's Liz Carmichael Was a Trans Woman, Scammer, and Devoted Mom |url=https://www.oprahmag.com/entertainment/tv-movies/a35325931/liz-carmichael-wife-kids/ |website=[[O, The Oprah Magazine]]|date=1 February 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Glans-Doré |first1=Mari |title=Hun svindlet til seg millioner. Det eneste Liz Carmichael var dønn ærlig om, var egen transseksualitet. |url=https://www.aftenposten.no/kultur/i/jBL26b/ny-dokumentarserie-skildrer-historien-om-bedrageren-og-transkvinnen-l |website=www.aftenposten.no |date=2 February 2021 |language=nb}}</ref> She grew up in Jasonville, Indiana, later moving to [[Detroit, Michigan]] with her family.<ref name="Oprah"/><br />
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==Relationships==<br />
According to the FBI, Carmichael married four times while identifying as Jerry Dean Michael. She was charged with desertion for leaving her first wife, Marga, whom she met while stationed in Germany, and their two children. In 1954, she married a woman named Juanita, with whom she had two children before their relationship ended in 1956. In 1958, she married a woman named Betty Sweets after knowing her for four weeks. They conceived a daughter, but the marriage ended within a year.<ref name="Oprah"/> In 1959, she married Vivian Barrett Michael, her fourth wife, and together they had five children.<ref name="Oprah"/><ref>{{cite web|author=Chervinski, Ashley|title=How Elizabeth Carmichael Went From Small Time Scams To Running An Infamous Car Company |url=https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/how-elizabeth-carmichael-went-from-small-time-scams-to-running-an-infamous-car-company/ar-BB1dgx0Q |publisher=[[MSN]]|date=February 1, 2021|accessdate=February 16, 2021}}</ref><br />
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==Career and legal issues==<br />
In 1961, she was arrested for counterfeiting U.S. currency in the Los Angeles, California, area. She jumped bail and went on the run in 1962 with Vivian and their children.<ref name="Oprah"/><ref name="NYPOST">{{cite web |last1=Kaplan |first1=Michael |title='Lady and the Dale' secrets: HBO revs up a wild true crime mystery |url=https://nypost.com/2021/01/30/the-true-story-behind-hbos-the-lady-and-the-dale-docuseries/ |website=New York Post |date=30 January 2021}}</ref><br />
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While on the run, Carmichael faked a serious car accident in an effort to shed her identity as Jerry Dean Michael.<ref name="NYPOST"/> She changed her name to Liz Carmichael in the late 1960s.<ref name= oldcars /><ref name= Torchinsky>{{cite web| url= https://jalopnik.com/murder-transsexuals-and-the-price-is-right-the-story-464820740| website= Jalopnik |title= Murder, Transsexuals, And The Price Is Right: The Story Of The Dale Car Hoax| first= Jason |last= Torchinsky| date= April 1, 2013| access-date= February 4, 2020}}</ref> She often introduced her wife Vivian Barrett Michael as her secretary.<ref name= caper>{{cite magazine| url= https://people.com/archive/she-really-is-a-he-the-bizarre-liz-carmichael-auto-caper-vol-3-no-16/ | title= She Really Is a He: The Bizarre Liz Carmichael Auto Caper| author= ''People'' Staff |date= April 28, 1975| magazine= People| access-date= February 4, 2020}}</ref><br />
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In 1973, still on the run from her 1961 arrest, Carmichael was working at the United States Marketing Institute (USMI), in Los Angeles.<ref name="NYPOST"/> There she met [[Dale Clifft]], who had invented a [[three-wheeled car]] with low fuel consumption. With Clifft, she left the USMI to form the [[Twentieth Century Motor Car Corporation]], whose goal was to market the unique, low-fuel-consumption vehicle. The company's main product, the Dale car, was widely covered in the press, with its claim of 70 miles per gallon coming at the time of the [[Arab Oil Embargo|Arab oil embargo]].<ref name="PetersenMuseum">{{cite web |title=Dale car: Elizabeth Carmichael Dale: 20th century motor car company |url=https://www.petersen.org/dale |website=Petersen Automotive Museum}} {{dead link|date=February 2021}}</ref> Carmichael falsely promoted herself as being widowed (her husband "Jim" had supposedly died in 1966),<ref>{{cite news |title=Liz Carmichael's Dream Buggy Turns Into A Nightmare |work=People |date=10 March 1975 |pages=14}}</ref> and holding degrees in mechanical engineering and business from [[Ohio State University]]<!--Wikipedians do not use "The" as part of Ohio State's name; it is considered a marketing gimmick, and routinely deleted.--> and [[Miami University]], respectively.<ref name="PetersenMuseum"/><ref name=jedlinka>{{cite news | title = This one may be the car of the century | first= Dan |last= Jedlinka | work = [[Chicago Sun-Times]] | date = November 14, 1974 }}</ref><br />
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Following accusations of financial impropriety at the Twentieth Century Motor Car Corporation, Carmichael was charged with 31 counts of [[grand theft]], fraud and corporate securities violations.<ref>{{cite book |title=Automotive News |year=1977 |publisher=Crain Automotive Group |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K7kqAQAAMAAJ&q=liz++carmichael+dale+31+counts |language=en}}</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=February 2021}}<br />
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She went into hiding, and was featured in a 1989 episode of ''[[Unsolved Mysteries]]'',<ref>''[[Unsolved Mysteries]]'', Season 1, Episode 20 NBC. April 5, 1989</ref> which detailed the fraud behind the Dale, for which she was a wanted fugitive.<ref name="nyt001">{{cite news|last1=Lerner|first1=Preston|last2=Stone|first2=Matt|date=December 7, 2012|title=History's Greatest Automotive Mysteries, Myths and Rumors Revealed|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/09/automobiles/excerpt-historys-greatest-automotive-mysteries-myths-and-rumors-revealed.html?_r=0|access-date=21 June 2015}}</ref><br />
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Roughly two weeks after the episode aired, a tip from a viewer led police to [[Dale, Texas]], where Carmichael was eventually found working under the alias Katherine Elizabeth Johnson,<ref name= Torchinsky/> at a flower shop. She was arrested, extradited to California,<ref name= oldcars>{{cite news | first= Phil| last= Skinner| title = The Cockeyed Tale of the Three-Wheeled Dale | url= http://www.3wheelers.com/dale/dale170294.pdf| work = Old Cars News and Marketplace | date = February 17, 1994| via= 3wheelers.com| access-date= February 4, 2020 }}</ref> tried and sent to prison.<ref name=Torchinsky/><ref name="hmn001">{{cite news |url= http://www.hemmings.com/hcc/stories/2011/08/01/hmn_opinion2.html|title=The Right to Remain Historical |last= Foster |first= Pat |date= August 2011|work=[[Hemmings Classic Car]] |access-date=21 June 2015}}</ref> She served 18 months in a men's prison, despite having been recognized as a woman by the courts.<ref name="Esquire">{{cite web |last1=Storey |first1=Kate |title=Liz Carmichael Promised the World a Three-Wheeled Car. The True Story Was Much More Complicated. |url=https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a35366211/what-happened-to-liz-carmichael-the-lady-and-the-dale-true-story/ |website=Esquire |date=31 January 2021}}</ref> Carmichael died of cancer in February 2004.<ref name="hmn001"/><ref name="Esquire"/><br />
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==In popular culture==<br />
On January 31, 2021, [[HBO]] premiered a four-part documentary titled ''[[The Lady and the Dale]]''. Directors for the series are Nick Cammilleri and [[Zackary Drucker]]. The documentary has been described as "... a lot of stories—about fraud, flight, FBI manhunts, transgender politics, selective prosecution, bias in the media, and corruption in the courts."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Anderson |first1=John |title='The Lady and the Dale' Review: Running on Fumes |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-lady-and-the-dale-review-running-on-fumes-11611869883?mod=searchresults_pos1&page=1 |website=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |date=28 January 2021 |access-date=1 February 2021}}</ref><br />
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==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Carmichael, Geraldine Elizabeth}}<br />
[[Category:2004 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:American women in business]]<br />
[[Category:American fraudsters]]<br />
[[Category:1937 births]]<br />
[[Category:Businesspeople from Indiana]]<br />
[[Category:People from Indiana]]<br />
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in the United States]]<br />
[[Category:Transgender women]]<br />
[[Category:Transgender businesspeople]]<br />
[[Category:American LGBT businesspeople]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century American businesswomen]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century American LGBT people]]<br />
[[Category:21st-century American LGBT people]]</div>WikiDwarfBOT