Excluding presidents*, what figures have been the subjects of the most stand-up comic impersonators? (Off the top of my head, I’m guessing Christopher Walken and William Shatner – but Shatner could well have Walken edged if comedians started impersonating him back in the 60’s and 70’s.)
Feel free to suggest more impersonation subjects, with whatever comics you can recall doing their shtick.
I want this list to be as comprehensive as possible. If you can recall even just two comedians doing, say, Rod Serling or Marlon Brando back in the '60’s and '70’s, go ahead and post them, and I’ll add them to the list. (National Lampoon did bits on both of those guys, so that’s one for each right there…) Just because a given figure’s before my time doesn’t mean it shouldn’t count – and it might end up racking up more references than Walken, et al!
*because I’m hoping for a manageable list, and spoofing presidents is something of a no-brainer. I’m ambivalent on whether to include non-presidential politicians, First Wives, etc. for the same reason. For now, let’s include them and see what happens, 'k?
I know that many others have done these, but this is all I can recall right now:
Christopher Walken
Jay Mohr
Kevin Spacey
??
William Shatner
Kevin Pollack
Eddie Murphy? (I remember he’s talked about him, but did he also impersonate him?)
??
Colombo – done by tons of no-talent stand-up comics who deserve to be killed
Rain Man – done by tons of no-talent stand-up comics who also deserve to be killed
Stand-up comics doing both of these impersonations deserve to be killed twice.
Anyhoo, historically I’ll bet Howard Cosell is way up there. He was extremely well-known and had a distinctive style that just begged for impersonation.