I had never heard of him before today, but Vaughn Meader was a comedian
during the early 60's who became famous for impersonating President
Kennedy, winning a Grammy for the best comedy album. He instantly
became famous, traveled all over the country doing his Kennedy shtick
and made a ton of fucking money. His album The First Family sold
7.5 million albums, which was more than ANY album had sold at that
point. He was the toast of the nation, and even President Kennedy got a kick out of him:
Kennedy himself was said to have given copies of the
album as Christmas gifts, and once greeted a Democratic National
Committee group by saying, "Vaughn Meader was busy tonight, so I came
myself."
Of course, the moment JFK got shot in Dallas,
Meader's career tragically ended as well. No matter what he tried,
nobody in show business would touch him with a ten-foot pole. Just like
Kennedy himself, Maeder flashed like a comet and then was gone:
...his career died, at the very moment a bullet struck
down Kennedy in Dallas. "That was it," Meader remembers. "One year,
November to November. Then boom. It was all over."
However,
I wouldn't bother to remember or care about Meader at all were it not
for an incredible line from Lenny Bruce the night JFK got shot. The
Lenny story probably is may be apocryphal, but I don't really care since it's such a great, brave line:
According to several sources, avant-garde standup
comedian Lenny Bruce went on with his November 22 nightclub show as
scheduled. Just hours after Kennedy's death, Bruce walked onstage, stood
silently for several moments, then said sadly, "Poor Vaughn Meader."
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