Before shooting her first portrait, before producing an astounding body of work that attracted countless admirers, before becoming famous, Diane Arbus fell in love with a man who is inflicted with a condition that causes unrelenting body-hair growth. He naturally represents the gritty underbelly of life, the freak show of the world, that Arbus has so far not been allowed near during her precious, spoiled existence.

The spoiled existence part is true. The beast-man lover? Imaginary.

"My mother made me swear I'd go through life without ever seeing a dead person," Arbus (played by Nicole Kidman) says in "Fur," which is billed as "An Imaginary Portrait" of the New York City photo legend.

And yet the young Arbus finds herself increasingly enchanted by the unsexy realities of life — grates, pipes, paint-peeled walls and hair-clogged drains — not to mention circus freaks. It's Lionel, the mysterious masked man in her building, who introduces her to the world of imperfection from which her parents and polished '50s housewife life have so far shielded her.

Through her intimate relationship with a hirsute Lionel (played by Robert Downey Jr.), she finds the key to something far more valuable than any of the chinchilla coats her furrier parents exhibit at their swanky shows.

This stuff all could have happened, but did it? The film's mix of historical facts and hypothetical curve balls leaves you wondering what was true and what was imaginary. So here's a quick guide: "Fur" for dummies.

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We talked to Patricia Bosworth, author of the book "Diane Arbus: A Biography" and consulted information from the filmmakers to get to the bottom of it all.

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DID ARBUS REALLY ...

Have a family with a husband and two daughters in New York City?

Yes. She raised her family in Greenwich Village for most of the time, but before that she lived on the East Side. Her younger daughter is a photographer and the older one manages the Arbus estate.

Have an affair with a man who had a hair problem?

No. Lionel was based on a real man whom the director, Steven Shainberg, and the screenplay writer, Erin Cressida Wilson, found while looking through books about circus freaks.

Arbus tended to have long, involved relationships with her subjects, and the photographs she produced came out of much time spent with those she profiled. But she is not known to have ever had an affair with any of her subjects.

Pronounce her name DEE-ann?

Yes. Not DIE-ann.

Take pictures at a nudist colony?

Yes. It was a big project of hers late in her career.

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WAS ARBUS REALLY ...

The daughter of wealthy furriers?

Yes. The Nemerovs ran a fur and department store on Fifth Avenue called Russek's. The building is still there, not far from Lord & Taylor.

Introduced to photography by assisting her husband?

Sort of. He gave her her first camera and introduced her to the art, but they worked together as fashion photographers. In 1958, when the movie is set, Diane embarked on a solo career.

Allan got his start in the Army, taking mug shots during World War II. He and Diane did work for Russek's as well as other clients.

Known for photography of the dark underside of life?

Yes. The real Arbus liked circus freaks, transvestites and people with physical deformities. "Fur" director Steven Shainberg said he remembers that his uncle's collection of Arbus photos included a famous one of 495-pound, 8-foot-tall "Jewish Giant" Eddie Carmel and his parents.

However, her interest didn't end there.

"She didn't just take pictures of freaks and eccentrics," Arbus biographer Patricia Bosworth says. "She took pictures of everybody. She was interested in every kind of human being."

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Hillary Rhodes is an asap staff reporter.

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