Travalena left lasting impression
NEW YORK—In 1971, Fred Travalena packed his bags and headed west for Las Vegas to launch an enormously successful career doing impressions.
The Bronx native could, through his flair for imitation, morph his voice to fondly mock the idiosyncrasies of presidents, movie stars and dozens of other entertainers.
Dubbed “Mr. Everybody” because he performed hilarious impressions of people like Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, and actors Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro, Travalena died Sunday at his Encino, Calif., home of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He was 66.
Travalena, who delighted audiences for more than three decades in Las Vegas and on late-night television, even had his own star placed on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame in 2005.
By some counts, he could mimic more than 150 famous people.
The Associated Press reported that Travalena, who also sang and acted, reached headliner status at the Stardust Resort and Casino in 2001, a year before the lymphoma first hit. He beat cancer twice but succumbed to the latest attack, which resurfaced about eight months ago, said his publicist, Roger Neal.
A biography on his Web site said Travalena served in the Army’s Special Services during the war in Vietnam. It also said that the Walk of Fame milestone “applauds Fred as one of the top performers.”
He had appeared on various shows including “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,” “Late Night with David Letterman,” “Live with Regis & Kathie Lee” and “Larry King Live.”
He toured the world entertaining, most recently visiting U. S. troops in Bosnia and Sarajevo on a USO tour.
Neal said Travalena died at home surrounded by family, including his wife of 39 years, Lois; sons, Fred IV, and Cory; daughter-in-law, Kelly; and granddaughter, Sophia.
“He was great at what he did,” Neal said. “When feature films would get edited for television, they would bring Fred in to dub the actors’ voices when they said something that couldn’t be said on television.”
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