DrWebJFK Impersonator Vaughn Meader – Death of a Career – Mobituaries
JFK Impersonator Vaughn Meader: Death of a Career
In this episode, Mo Rocca explores the story of this once-famous comic whose career died the same day President Kennedy was assassinated.
52:06 Time
Between late 1962 and late 1963, an American comedian found himself in a brief and rapturous period of astounding fame. Across the country, thousands tuned into their radio and television sets to hear his iconic impersonation, and roared with laughter when they played his hit album.
The man was Vaughn Meader, and the act was his shockingly spot-on impersonation of John F. Kennedy. Meader’s album,“The First Family”, which featured his impersonation of JFK, became the fastest selling album up to that point in the history of the record business.
Today, few recall the name Vaughn Meader.
For other entertainers who faded from the spotlight, it may be difficult to trace to the precise moment their popularity declined. But for Vaughn Meader, the end of his career came upon a day that most everyone remembers with chilling accuracy, a day that is still today regarded as an eternal dark mark on America’s history.
Three shots rang out in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963, and America as it was known was forever changed. As a country went into shock and entered a period of mourning, Vaughn Meader slipped quietly away from the spotlight.
Abbott Vaughn Meader was born in 1936 in Waterville, Maine. After his father drowned, Meader’s mother moved from Maine to Boston to work as a cocktail waitress. The young Meader shuffled between the two states often, spending much of his time in a children’s home. Meader says his talent for comedy first blossomed when he was young—he would make jokes to charm his way out of a punishment.
As Meader approached adulthood, his mother was institutionalized and he ran away to join the army. While he was stationed in Germany, he played in a band and met the first of his four wives. After his service, Meader returned to New York City, first doing a risqué piano act and then a politically-themed comedy routine in Greenwich Village. It was during this time when he dropped his first name, Abbott, and became Vaughn Meader.
When Meader performed his political routine on the show “Talent Scouts,” he caught his big break. It was two particular viewers who would change the course of his life. In the early 1960s, aspiring record producers Bob Booker and Earle Doud came up with an idea to capitalize on the nation’s fascination with the new president as well as the popularity of comedy albums. They would satirize the president and his family by placing them in every day, even mundane situations like a White House press conference where the president addresses household toy distribution.
Booker and Doud knew their unique concept would be a hit; they just needed to find the right voice. On July 3rd, 1962 when they tuned into “Talent Scouts,” the pair knew instantly they had found their man.
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