I believe the character of Indiana Jones was based on the life and
exploits of Roy Chapman Andrews who went on numerous expeditions hunting
dinosaur bones for the American Museum of Natural History in New York
(alas the constant confusion and blending of paleontology with archaeology
among both the general public and movie producers).  One of my former
students, Lynn Richardson, who is now a registrar at Monticello, did a
superb research job tracking down the connection between Indiana Jones and Roy
Chapman Andrews.  She read almost all of Andrews works and found out that the
scriptwriters had literally lifted many of those famous lines in the movie
from Andrews' own words.
Linda Ellis, Museum Studies Program, San Francisco State University

On Fri, 19 Apr 1996, Eric Siegel wrote:

>    The book skeletons in the attic refers to an AMNH archaeologist who
>    was apparently the model for Indiana Jones.  The name escapes me, but
>    apparently he was a seriously big wheel in those circles (or is it
>    spheres).  He wore the same kinda hat, was a big time adventurer in, I
>    believe, the Gobi Desert principally..  I'll clear up this info if
>    anyone here expresses any interest.
>
>    Eric Siegel
>    [log in to unmask]
>