Frederick von Mierers was an extraterrestrial reincarnated from the giant star Arcturus—or at least that’s what he told followers. The Manhattan socialite was the leader of Eternal Values, a doomsday UFO-centered cult composed of high-fashion models.
Von Mierers, who founded the cult in the 1980s, lured in top modeling professionals with his peculiar brand of new-age mysticism and used his spiritual authority to financially exploit his devotees.
His influence is explored in the new HBO documentary series Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult, which includes extensive interviews with his most prominent former follower: supermodel Hoyt Richards.
Here’s what you should know about Frederick von Mierers.
Who Was Frederick von Mierers, Eternal Values Leader?
Frederick von Mierers, whose real name was Freddy Miers, was born on Christmas Day, 1946, in Brooklyn, New York. He was raised Jewish by a single mother, Dorothea Carroll, though he reportedly spent most of his time with an aunt, whose name is unknown.
As a young man, Freddy, who was gay, briefly worked as a model in the late 1960s. During this time, he changed his name to Frederick von Mierers and became a social climber, earning a coveted place in the Social Register—a who’s who of New York’s high society.
In reinventing himself, he also rewrote his backstory, telling people his parents died in a car accident when he was a toddler and he was raised by his grandparents until he reached the age of 16, after which his godmother, arts patron Mrs. Earle Kress Williams, became his guardian.
Eventually, von Mierers spun an even greater tale, not about his childhood, but about his species.
How Did Frederick von Mierers Create Eternal Values?
Establishing himself as a trusted astrologer in the early 1980s, the well-connected socialite claimed he was an alien “walk-in” from the star Arcturus sent to train future leaders of the new age to repair civilization in the wake of the apocalypse. While von Mierers maintained he was born a human, he claimed an extraterrestrial energy entered his body, transforming him into a new alien version of himself and giving him knowledge of several past lives.
Before long, he gathered a large following of attractive young people, often meeting them at beaches, and luring them in with his particular blend of new-age philosophies, Eastern religions, and overarching doomsday prophecy. Many of them were fashion models, including Richards and Jacki Adams, but all were in search of a greater meaning and purpose for their lives.
Von Mierers prophesied that the planet would be wiped out in 1999, but a UFO would come to save his followers, placing them in rejuvenation chambers until it was safe to return to Earth. In preparation, he bought a compound in Lake Lure, North Carolina, as a landing strip for alien spaceships.
Von Mierers soon began spreading his mysticism on a public access cable TV show, as well as a radio program, and somewhere along the way, he started referring to his group as Eternal Values. He was even featured in the book Aliens Among Us by reporter-turned-psychic Ruth Montgomery, which seemed to lend him further credibility.
How Did Frederick von Mierers Exploit His Followers?
At first, the beauty-obsessed von Mierers preached self-improvement and doomsday preparation, heavily encouraging his followers to eat healthy and abstain from sex in order to better themselves and prepare for the “pole shift” that would destroy the planet.
Those who strayed from this path were subject to so-called “slamming sessions,” in which he and other group members yelled and hurled insults at individuals to set them straight. Later on, the cult leader changed his tune about celibacy, demanding followers have casual sexual encounters and painting those who didn’t as repressed.
As time went on, von Mierers expanded Eternal Values into a business, incorporating as Ultimate Fitness Opportunities—a play on UFO—and began selling books, videos, cassettes, and supplements. This included personal psychic astrology reading tapes for $350 each, which were often accompanied by expensive “gem prescriptions.” He attributed healing powers to gemstones, like sapphire and topaz, and sold them to clients and followers for much more than they were worth.
Von Mierers charged Adams, one of his most affluent followers, upward of $100,000. “It was amazing how much spirituality cost,” she recalls in Bring Me the Beauties. Adams eventually left Eternal Values and contacted the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office about his inflated gem sales and appraisals. She and other former followers were even interviewed for a Vanity Fair exposé about von Mierers and his gem scam, but by the time it came out in March 1990, he had already died.
What Was Frederick von Mierers’s Cause of Death?
Von Mierers spent his final days bedridden at his compound in North Carolina, where he died of AIDS-related complications on February 4, 1990. It was only after his autopsy, his followers learned he had suffered from the deadly disease. Von Mierers refused to tell his devotees about his diagnosis, save for his assistant Paul Hinton, though it was clear to the group he had been suffering from some kind of illness.
According to Bring Me the Beauties, however, some of his former followers believe he was killed, alleging Eternal Values member Fritz Steven suffocated him with a pillow as a mercy killing. None of this has been confirmed.
While Eternal Values continued for nearly a decade after his death, the group fractured. In 1999, the cult largely disbanded when Richards, a major financial backer of Eternal Values, left the group for good.
How to Watch Bring Me the Beauties
Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult explores von Mierers’s scams and manipulation through the eyes of Richards and other former devotees. The three-part documentary series premieres on HBO June 1.
Catherine Caruso joined the Biography.com staff in August 2024, having previously worked as a freelance journalist for several years. She is a graduate of Syracuse University, where she studied English literature. When she’s not working on a new story, you can find her reading, hitting the gym, or watching too much TV.
