The Netflix documentary Disclosure recounts Hollywood’s history of representing trans people as villains and masters of deception, among other harmful tropes. This long line of media characterizations historically fed into anxieties borne of ignorance and bigotry, as the documentary notes, but were rarely based in reality.
With the acknowledgement that trans identity has no inherent or causal link to deceit, we can appreciate the life and crimes of Elizabeth Carmichael with the similar sort of twisted delight lavished on the likes of socialite scam queen Anna Delvey or Silicon Valley’s disgraced Elizabeth Holmes.
HBO Max has released a trailer for its new docuseries The Lady and the Dale, premiering January 31, about Carmichael’s daring and lengthy con within the 1970s auto industry. “I’m going to knock the hell outta Detroit,” Carmichael says in archival footage. “People need a hero, that’s what America is all about.”
Carmichael came to the market during the dire oil crisis that marked the ‘70s with a three-wheeled car she claimed was revolutionary for fuel efficiency. And much like Holmes, Carmichael was eventually found to be pedaling a house of cards with profound gusto and delusions of grandeur.
Co-directed by trans artist and activist Zackary Drucker and Nick Cammilleri, the documentary series is billed as “a probing exploration of family and identity seen through the lens of the rise and fall of a fearless and wily innovator, an extraordinarily resilient woman, and a dedicated parent.”
Carmichael was caught and arrested in 1975, but managed to escape (!) and evade capture for nearly 15 years afterward, until she was the subject of an Unsolved Mysteries episode and discovered to be living under a different name in Texas. She died in 2004.
Among the most bizarre and fascinating con artists of the century, Carmichael’s story seems to finally be getting the kind of retelling that will do her justice.
Get the best of what’s queer. Sign up for them.’s weekly newsletter here.
