Great Antonio - Later Life

Later Life

As he grew older, he became a noted eccentric figure in his home town of Montreal. He changed the story of his background on at least two occasions. He claimed that, rather than being of Croatian descent, he was Italian. In his later years, he claimed that he was an extraterrestrial. Destitute and illiterate, he frequented doughnut shops in Rosemont (one had to leave a message for him at Dunkin' Donuts to reach him), as well as Berri-UQAM metro station, where he sold postcards of himself and brochures outlining his life story.

The Great Antonio died at age 77 of a heart attack while in a grocery store in Montreal. He is believed to have been married at least twice, once in Europe and once in Canada, but he left no known descendants. Before his death, he carried "every scrap of paper that had been written about him over the years, news clippings from all over the world, in garbage bags." After his death, discovered amongst the clippings was a letter from the office of Bill Clinton, and old photos of Barichievich with the likes of Pierre Trudeau, Liza Minnelli, Lee Majors, Sophia Loren and Johnny Carson.