Joseph Shea (FBI agent) the 2002 film "Catch Me If You Can", fictional character Carl Hanratty, portrayed by Tom Hanks, is loosely based on the relationship that Shea had with Frank Abagnale. Joseph Shea (FBI agent) Joseph Gerald Shea (September 20, 1919 – August 4, 2005) was a Special Agent for the FBI. Shea was born in Brookline, Massachusetts on September 20, 1919. He was the third child in a family of four sons born to Frank Shea and his Irish-born wife, Alice Mary. The family moved in with their paternal grandmother after his mother's death, when he was eight. Shea joined the Army
I Was a Communist for the FBI Communist Party for the FBI in Pittsburgh for nine years. During this time he has been unable to tell his family about his dual role, so they assume that he is a genuine believer in Communism and despise him. He becomes emotionally involved with a Communist school teacher (Dorothy Hart), who is becoming disenchanted with the party. She breaks with the party when it foments a violent strike. Cvetic helps her escape the Communists in violent sequences in which two Communists and an FBI agent are killed. Communists are portrayed in the film as cynical opportunists, racists who are interested