Balloon-Boy Stunt Not So Strange for Wacky Dad

Unsurprisingly, Richard Heene is a shameless self-promoter
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 19, 2009 9:24 AM CDT
Balloon-Boy Stunt Not So Strange for Wacky Dad
Richard Heene's balloon is held for evidence in the Larimer County Sheriff's evidence area in Fort Collins, Colo., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2009.   (AP Photo/Will Powers)

With the balloon-boy debacle now exposed as a hoax, the spotlight has turned on Richard Heene's wacky and not-so-camera-shy behavior. The 48-year-old amateur scientist/wannabe reality TV star tried his hand at acting and standup comedy in the early '90s in Hollywood. And though that ended up being a "total bomb," says an associate, Heene was still constantly trying to get people to invest in his storm-chasing exploits—like riding a motorcycle into the middle of a tornado.

Heene was fixated on tornado-related inventions—an obsession that developed in the 1970s after a storm ripped off the roof of a building he was working on—and fame, calling his two Wife Swap appearances "the best thing that's ever happened in our life. Seriously." Not-so-best things included getting an eviction notice from the house they were renting in June 2007; the owner says they split, and still owe her $6,000 in damages.
(More Richard Heene stories.)

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