Actualite Issue 1 2014

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Let’s take a look at the actuaries fortunate enough to exist in the fictional world
Barrett Gimble
An actuary in an episode of the supernatural TV
show The Collector. Gimble sells his soul to the
devil to make exact predications on the lifespan and
circumstances of others. He has a side job of working
with mob bosses, using his services to whittle away
the competition by using these precise numbers.
That career path was definitely not discussed at Meet
the Professionals Night!
BARTON KEYES
Played by Edward G. Robinson - technically a
Claims Manager in the film noir The Double
Indemnity, he still deserves a mention. Keyes
smells murder when a man falls to his death and
an accidental claim was purchased two weeks
earlier. What do you mean actuaries don’t dress
as classy as this?
Mr Stoppable
Once again, introducing this onetime
but memorable character
in Kim Possible. He’s just your
average white-collared actuary,
battling an evil maths mastermind
with his superior mathematical
mind powers. One of my childhood
heroes. Now if only us actuaries
could do that in real life...
Diana Bingley
An actuary in the musical I Love You Because. She
steals the stage with “The Actuary Song”, calculating
the rebound time for her friend trying to recover from a
break-up. According to Bingley, there are three factors;
what number boyfriend he was, the ‘who broke up
with whom’ concept and the bitterness of the breakup.
Hmm...maybe I should take notes for future reference.
Areas of My Expertise
An absurd book by John
Hodgman. This includes a
short story where actuaries,
aside from being portrayed as
diviners foreseeing the death of
others, bear tattoos according
to the international society they
belong to. Tattoos of special
mention include the notation l x
,
and a man hanging by his ankles.
Yoji Yanagawa
A villain in the horror manga Kurosagi Corpse Delivery
Service. An actuary with a computer system, and the
details of someone’s initials, blood type, and birth date,
he can calculate the probability of their death at a certain
time and location. He uses this to start an insurance fraud
company, leading clients to ‘natural accidents’ to keep
the payouts. “Death by probability” has just taken a whole
new level.
So there you have some intriguing and somewhat
dramatised actuaries, however few in number they
may be.
Here is an excuse I would think writers/producers
would have in excluding actuaries in their work:
“But actuaries aren’t interesting to write/film about.”
Rubbish - there are at least six reasons to disprove that
point, and they’re on this very page. “I don’t even know
what actuaries do, why write/film about it?” Then just
find an actuary to consult the details with – and while
they’re at it, get that actuary to calculate their insurance
policies to make the most out of their insurance claims.
See? Two birds with one stone.
Of course, I am not undermining other careers which
have also been inadequately represented in fiction, but
it wouldn’t hurt for more actuaries to appear in books
or the big screen. My own future was to be altered from
watching that one episode of Kim Possible, swaying
me to consider actuarial studies through my careers
advisor. Who knows? With more actuaries in fiction,
more children would become inspired to become one
of them. And from this influx, more people would know
about actuaries, and writers, directors and producers
would include them in their work.
So, next time someone asks what is “Actuarial Studies”,
and are incapable of taking the plunge down those
deep waters, maybe shove The Actuary Song in their
ear, or Areas of My Expertise in their face.
By Frances Mai
ACTUALITE Issue 1 | Page 14