Vaughn Meader:
He'd Rather Be a Riot Than President
One smash-hit record, and suddenly a young comic has a host of fans including
the Kennedys, who are the subject of his devastating impersonations
By BOB DRISCOLL
Two copies of a new record album
recently were rushed by jet from
New York to London addressed to
Princess Margaret.
Another hundred copies found their way to a
certain Washington, D.C., address 1600 Penn
sylvania Avenue. More than 2,000,000 others -wound
up in American homes within three weeks
of the record's release.
The disk is simply labeled "The First Family,"
and its star is a hitherto little-known Boston
comic, Vaughn Meader, 26, who does a hilarious
impersonation of President Kennedy.
I had known Vaughn before the record, and so
I was eager to talk to him and his petite, German
born wife Vera about his sudden success. When I
arrived at their new three-room New York apart
ment, the first thing that struck me was how tired
Vaughn looked. His complexion had grayed, a
telltale sign in the entertainment business that
a performer is spending a lot of time indoors
working and not so much time outdoors pounding
the pavement.
"Welcome aboahd," he greeted me in his
Kennedy voice. "It's nice of you to interview tie
for Family weekly aftah 'The First Family.'
The question I must ask you is this: wherah were
you befoah?" He grinned and settled back on
the couch next to Vera.
Turning off Kennedy, Vaughn said: "You
know, for a time I thought I should be a politician.
I figured that if I was going to make a living, it
would have to be with my mouth; I've never had
a bit of trouble talking.
"The way things are working out, though, I'd
rather be a riot than President. For one thing, it
pays better. Or at least it docs for the time being
with this record. Six months ago I would have
done anything that paid for some groceries."
Meader is the first to admit that his is a Hora
tio Alger story "with a lot of horseshoes, a won
derful wife, and good friends thrown in."
"As for my President Kennedy imitation' he
relates, "that came about only because some of
my friends ribbed me about being from Boston
and taunted me into impersonating the President.
The voice was easy for me. Within a week, I had
it down. The gestures took longer the better
part of a month. It was only then that the com
mercial aspects of my little game occurred to me.
"The right people happened to catch the act
Then came 'Talent Scouts' and 'The Ed Sullivan
Show' on tv and the record."
Vaughn playfully locked his arm around Vera's
neck, drawing her to him, and said: "You helped
a little bit, didn't you, Honey? Let's see, you
paid the bills off and on mostly on for the
last six out of seven years of our marriage. That
helped some. And you did laugh at my jokes even
if you didn't understand them at first."
He turned his attention back to me. "I drifted
until I met Vera. Come to think of it, we then
drifted together until I got this big break.
"I was born in Boston, you know,, just like
President Kennedy. And that's about where the
resemblance ends. My father was killed in a
swimming accident when I was 18 months old,
and Mom went to work as a waitress to support
us. I had to shuttle around between relatives, and
for a while I was boarded at Parker Homestead
Grammar School.
"Happily, I learned to play the piano nt Parker
Homestead. When I joined the Army at 17 and
was shipped to Germany, I began to play piano
and sing in a hillbilly band. Pretty soon I was
leading it and filling in with some chatter.
"One night a pretty blond waitress came over
to the piano, and asked, 'You will play "Sawdust,"
bitte, jaV
"I cracked up nearly fell right off the piano
stool. I saw I was hurting her feelings, so I con
trolled my laughter as best I could and said : 'You
mean "Stardust," I think.' She laughed as heartily
as I had when I explained the difference."
Vaughn married Vera and brought her home.
He then went to the School of Radio Technique in
New York. "I thought I might as well be a radio
or tv producer," he said. "But after looking all
over the East for a job, I returned home dis
abused of that idea. I landed a job as an usher
in a movie theater. Then I sent a resume to a de
partment store, and to my surprise they answered
that they had a job for me. So I became an an
nouncer I don't know how many girdle sales I
announced before I returned to New England
and some two-bit dates in night clubs."
Vaughn then decided to try some topical politi
cal humor and landed a job at Phase 2, a Green
wich Village club, which now boasts: "Home of
that Kennedy man: Vaughn Meader."
Success has had little effect on Vaughn's home
life. He's busier and has moved 'into a new
apartment, but his friends have remained con
stant. "They're bums just like me. Only now I'm
a successful bum," he adds. "And now I can afford
to see the pro football Giants in person instead of
on tv. And I can indulge a hobby; I brew the
best New England clam chowder in New York."
Vaughn feels that he has to work hard to stay
on the top. "Right now I'm stereotyped as an im
personator," he says. "But that's only part of my
act, as I hope everyone will soon find out. I'd like
to do everything everything but dance, that is.
I have flat feet."
"How would you like to be President?" I asked.
Vaughn's facial muscles changed, his index
finger jutted out at shoulder level, and he was
President Kennedy again. "In answer to yoah
question," he intoned, "let me say this: I have
made a judgment not of what my country can do
foah me but what I can do foah my country. And
if I were President, heaven help us."
COVER:
A pensive J. Edgar Hoover, photographed
by the distinguished Karsh, recalls the
most inspiring moment in his life and
shares it with us in the dramatic story,
"Appointment with Destiny," on page i.
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