Real life inspiration: William Randolph Hearst

In reality: The son of a self made millionaire, Hearst was an American media baron who could be described as the Rupert Murdoch of his day. While originally he crusaded for civic improvements and to expose corruption in his publications, Hearst later went on to play a part in the popularisation of sensationalist, tabloid journalism.

In the movies: The principal source of inspiration for Orson Welles legendary film 'Citizen Kane' is said to be modelled around Hearst. While this cannot be proven, Hearst's camp reacted so badly to the film's release (seeing the character of Kane as an obvious caricature) that they offered $800,000 for the film and negatives to be burnt.