Career
Mazamanian was born with only three fingers on his right hand, and was one of seven children of Armenian immigrants from Istanbul who apparently settled near Boston, Massachusetts. In his memoirs, he claimed to have been a Boy Scout, a regular churchgoer and an "honors student" at school. During World World War II he convinced an Army psychiatrist that he was unfit for military service, and worked for a while for the General Electric Company before being fired.
He later wrote:
When he became ill, a Danish journalist launched a campaign to raise money for his medical bills.
