Walter Keane Artist

Walter Stanley Keane (October 7, 1915 – December 27, 2000) was an American plagiarist who became famous in the 1950s for claiming he had painted a series of widely-reproduced paintings depicting vulnerable waifs with enormous eyes. The paintings were in fact painted by his wife Margaret Keane. When she made this fact public, Walter Keane retaliated with a USA Today article that again claimed he had done the work. In 1986 Margaret Keane sued both Walter and USA Today. In the subsequent slander suit, the judge demanded that the litigants paint a painting in the courtroom, but Walter declined, citing a sore shoulder. Margaret then produced a painting, in 53 minutes, for the jurors. The jury awarded her damages of $4 million.