Entertainment

The real con man stands & applauds

You’d think at this point, Frank Abagnale Jr. would tire of seeing his life flash before his eyes.

But no: One Leonardo DiCaprio film and a Broadway musical later, the Liberace of fraud finds “Catch Me If You Can” a blessing: “In the eyes of the public, I’ll never get old,” says the 62-year-old — a walking, talking tale of redemption.

While “Catch Me” covers his wonder years — ages 16 to 21, when he bounced $2.5 million in bad checks — Abagnale’s since turned his powers to good. Or at least to the FBI, where the Charleston, S.C., man has worked for the past 35 years.

REVIEW: ‘CATCH ME IFYOU CAN’

He says he didn’t get a penny from the 2002 film or the show: He’d sold all the rights to Grosset & Dunlap, which published his memoir, “Catch Me If You Can,” in 1980.

Co-written by Stan Redding, it was billed as “The Amazing True Story of the Youngest and Most Daring Con Man in the History of Fun and Profit!”

But while Spielberg loved the story, he forbade his young star to meet his by-now middle-age subject: He wanted the high-flying young Frank on the screen, not the staid, 50-something Frank.

“Spielberg was adamant,” Abagnale says. “But Leo kept saying, ‘This is the first time I’ve made a movie about a real person!’ ” The director finally relented.

The next thing the native New Yorker knew, DiCaprio was on the phone, urging him to fly out to California and be his houseguest.

“He literally sat with me in the living room with his little tape recorder and a notepad,” says the former con man. “He picked up on all my mannerisms. ‘Why are you scratching your leg? Is that what you do all the time?’ ”

No, Abagnale told him, “It’s just itchy.”

After the filming was finished, Spielberg sent him a two-minute trailer. “When it was over, my wife looked at me and said, ‘He’s got you down perfect! The look, the smile — he did a great job!’ ”

Hearing his tale told again — this time with Aaron Tveit singing and dancing as the young Frank — makes him even happier.

“I live in a wonderful country,” says Abagnale, who planned to fly in for opening night.

“I came out of prison, had three beautiful boys and served my country. That’s the real story of my life.”