The man who inspired the beloved Tom Hanks film, The Terminal, has died after living in Charles de Gaulle Airport in France for 18 years.

Mehran Karimi Nasseri, an Iranian national, had a heart attack in Terminal 2F, according to a French official.

He lived in Terminal 1 of the airport from 1988 until 2006, initially in legal limbo because he did not have residency papers.

He slept on a red plastic bench surrounded by newspapers and magazines stored in cargo boxes and showered in staff facilities, famously having his story told to a global audience by Tom Hanks, no less.