Lentorama 2006 Saint of the Day: St. Mary of Egypt

A hermitess discovered in the Jordanian desert by St. Cyryacus and his companions, she said that she had been an actress and singer who was doing penance for her sins. The next time Cyryacus came through, she was dead.

And there it would have stood, except that in the Middle Ages someone appended a legend to Mary's story, relating a history where she was an actress and courtesan in Alexandria who realized her sins while looking at an icon of the Virgin Mary. The Virgin directed Mary to the desert, where she lived for 47 years without seeing a single person. She still managed to face several temptations with the help of her namesake. Mary would be discovered by a man named Zosimus, who would later find her dead.

A lesson on the importance of a well-written back-story. TV and movie writers take heed.