Vaughn Meader
Vaughn Meader | |
---|---|
Born | Abbott Vaughn Meader March 20, 1936 Waterville, Maine, U.S. |
Died | October 29, 2004 Auburn, Maine, U.S. | (aged 68)
Nationality | American |
Education | Brookline High School |
Occupation(s) | Comedian, impersonator, musician, actor |
Spouses |
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Abbott Vaughn Meader (March 20, 1936 – October 29, 2004) was an American comedian, impersonator, musician, and film actor.
Meader began his career as a musician but later found fame in the early 1960s after the release of the 1962 comedy record
Meader's career success came to an abrupt end after President Kennedy's
Early life
Meader was born in Waterville, Maine during one of the worst floods ever to hit New England: he often said he was born on "the night the West Bridge washed out". He was the only child of Charles Vaughn Meader, a millworker, and Mary Ellen Abbott. After his father broke his neck and drowned in a diving accident when Meader was only eighteen months old, his mother moved to Boston to work as a cocktail waitress, leaving Meader behind with relatives. A sometimes unruly and troubled child, Meader was sent to live with his mother in Boston at the age of five but she suffered from alcoholism, and placed him in a children's home.
After shuttling among several schools in Massachusetts and Maine, Meader eventually graduated from Brookline High School in 1953. He enlisted in the United States Army and was stationed in Mannheim, West Germany as a laboratory technician. He formed a country music band – the Rhine Rangers – with fellow soldiers, later adding impressions of popular singers to his repertoire. Meader married the German-born Vera Heller in 1955.[2]
Career
Meader began his career in entertainment as a singer and piano player. Upon his return from Germany, he began a comedy act in
The First Family
On October 22, 1962, Meader joined writers Bob Booker and Earle Doud and a small cast of entertainers to record The First Family. The album poked fun at Kennedy's
Kennedy himself was said to have given copies of the album as Christmas gifts, and once greeted a
Still in his 20s, Meader was suddenly famous, rich, and in constant demand. He was profiled in
Though a series of tour dates in early 1963 were notably unsuccessful (Billboard reported that he "bombed" in Pittsburgh, and only 742 people showed up in Philadelphia),[6] he still played to packed houses in Las Vegas. The First Family won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1963. That March, Meader recorded a follow-up album, The First Family Volume Two, a combination of spoken comedy and songs performed by actors and comedians portraying members of the President's family and White House staff. The sequel was released in the spring of 1963, and while not as successful as the first volume, still sold hundreds of thousands of copies.
In July 1963, Meader left Cadence Records and Booker/Dowd to sign with MGM Records. Meader planned to record general satire and abandon his JFK impersonations.[7]
Assassination aftermath
In November 1963, Meader was busy recording a new comedy record, written by a different group of writers and not involving his Kennedy impersonation. On November 22, 1963, President Kennedy was
Meader reportedly first learned of President Kennedy's assassination after hailing a taxicab in Milwaukee. The driver, recognizing his celebrity passenger, asked "Did you hear about Kennedy in Dallas?" Meader thought the driver was telling a joke and responded "No, how does it go?" The driver then informed Meader of President Kennedy's death. Meader then heard the breaking news bulletins over the taxi's radio.[9]
According to several sources, stand-up comedian
His non-Kennedy album for Verve Records, Have Some Nuts!!!, came out to minimal attention in early 1964. A similar follow-up If The Shoe Fits... was released in late 1964, and included sketches on almost everything except the Kennedys, but sales were meager at best. Meader's income evaporated, new-found friends and associates stopped calling, and by 1965 Meader was virtually broke. Sinking into depression, he became addicted to alcohol and drugs, and was forced to take whatever work he could find.
He reunited with Earle Doud in 1971 for an album called The Second Coming, a comedic look at what life would be like for Jesus if he had returned to Earth around the time of Jesus Christ Superstar, but airplay and sales were virtually nonexistent.
Later years
Meader tried several times to revive his career, but achieved only moderate success, and even then mostly outside of show business. He appeared briefly in the 1975 movie Linda Lovelace for President, portrayed Walter Winchell in the 1975 film Lepke starring Tony Curtis, and had a very brief cameo on the 1981 Rich Little comedy album The First Family Rides Again, which both parodied Ronald Reagan and paid homage to the original First Family album. Both the Kennedy and Reagan First Family albums were produced by Earle Doud.
Eventually, Meader resumed a career in bluegrass and country music, becoming a popular local performer in his native Maine. During the mid-1970s, he performed in Louisville, Kentucky, mostly at a small tavern known as the Storefront Congregation, under the name "Abbott Meader and the Honky-Tonk Angels." Meader sang and played piano.
Personal life and death
Meader was married four times. He married his fourth wife, Sheila Colbath, in 1984. They remained married until his death.[1]
Sheila was a caller on the NPR radio show Car Talk in 1992, where she mentioned that her husband was running for president. She questioned the hosts about a particular car, which she and Vaughn were considering taking on the campaign trail. Her call has been replayed as part of episode #2234 on the Car Talk podcast.
On October 29, 2004, Meader died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at the age of 68.[1]
Legacy
Meader has been posthumously credited for having broken new ground in the area of political humor, particularly in impersonations of the President of the United States.[11][12]
In July 2006, nearly two years after Meader's death, the independent documentary First Impersonator premiered at the Maine International Film Festival in Waterville, Maine, Meader's birth town.[13] The film chronicled Meader's life and death, his rise to fame and equally famous fall from it, and his influence on today's political impersonators.
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1975 | Lepke | Walter Winchell | |
1975 | Linda Lovelace for President | Rev. Sacrifice | (final film role) |
References
- ^ a b c d Fox, Margailt (October 30, 2004). "Vaughn Meader, Star as Kennedy Mimicker, Dies at 68". The New York Times. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
- ^ John A. Drobnicki, Meader, (Abbott) Vaughn," in The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Thematic Series: The 1960s (Scribner's, 2003), Vol. 2, p. 68.
- ^ "Vaughn Meader, Satirist of Kennedy Family, Dies". The Washington Post. Associated Press. November 1, 2004. Retrieved April 3, 2006.
- ^ Clip from JFK: As It Happened, broadcast on the A&E network November 22, 1988
- ISBN 0-393-08722-0.
- ISSN 0006-2510.
- ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
- ISBN 978-0-520-26703-9.
- ^ The Surprising Story of Famed JFK Impersonator Vaughn Meader (and Why You've Never Heard of Him) Mental Floss. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
- ISBN 9780670020638.
- ^ "The Mocking of the President". The Attic. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
- ^ "Cabaret: Jim Morris's Impressions". The New York Times. February 1, 1987. Retrieved April 16, 2012.
- ^ "First Impersonator website". firstimpersonator.com. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
External links
- Vaughn Meader at IMDb
- NPR tribute to Vaughn Meader
- Vaughn Meader on The Andy Williams Show (March 28, 1963) in color
- "JFK Impersonator Vaughn Meader: Death of a Career" Mobituaries with Mo Rocca podcast episode, 52 min.