Background
The New Yorker ran a series of five profiles, starting October 29, 1932, that traced Romanoff's history from birth until date of publication. He had been deported to France in May of that year to serve time for fraud.
His Internet Movie Database (IMDb.com) biography states:
Mike Romanoff, the former Harry F. Gerguson, was a successful "professional impostor". He accumulated an enormous fount of knowledge in his numerous travels and occupations around the world (and he attended, however briefly, several leading universities). When Hollywood filmmakers needed a technical adviser for a movie set in Europe, Romanoff claimed to be an expert and drew a comfortable salary. The genial Romanoff was a popular figure among the movie colony, and he opened a restaurant that was frequented by many film stars. Romanoff made few screen appearances, but he can be seen in all his fraudulent glory in Sing While You're Able (1937). David Niven was a close friend, and in his book Bring on the Empty Horses he devotes a chapter to the colorful Romanoff.
According to U.S.A Confidential (Mortimer and Lait, 1952), while Romanoff pretended to be Russian royalty, he was actually a former Brooklyn pants presser.
IMDb.com also notes that Geguzin immigrated to New York City at age ten, changed his name to Harry F. Gerguson some time after 1900 and married Gloria Lister in 1948, and further explains that Romanoff "claimed to have been born Prince Michael Dimitri Alexandrovich Obolensky-Romanoff, nephew of Tsar Nicholas II. Everyone in Hollywood knew he wasn't, but in a town full of pretenders, it hardly mattered, and 'Prince Michael' enjoyed great success as a restaurateur."
Read more about this topic: Michael Romanoff
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