Vaughn Meader
Vaughn Meader was born in Waterville, Maine, United States on March 20th, 1936 and is the Comedian. At the age of 68, Vaughn Meader biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
At 68 years old, Vaughn Meader physical status not available right now. We will update Vaughn Meader's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.
Abbott Vaughn Meader (March 20, 1936-2004) was an American comedian, impersonator, singer, and film actor. Meader began his career as a guitarist, but after the debut of Bob Booker and Earl Doud's 1962 comedy collection, he found fame in the early 1960s.
The First Family.
The album spoofed President John F. Kennedy – who was played by Meader – and became the highest-selling "pre-Beatles" album in history, winning the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1963.
He appeared at variety shows and in nightclubs around the country, and was featured in many magazines. Since President Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963, Meader's career came to an abrupt end.
The First Family was quickly withdrawn from stores, so not to appear as profiting from the deceased President's demise, and Meader's bookings were cancelled.
He tried to move his career in a different direction by performing non-Kennedy-related comedy and releasing Have Some Nuts!!, a new comedy collection. In early 1964, a young boy was born in the United States.
However, sales for the album were poor as public interest in Meader had waned.
His career never recovered as he was too closely associated with President Kennedy.
Meader retired from Maine, where he revived playing guitar and owned a bar.
Early life
Meader was born in Waterville, Maine, during one of New England's worst floods ever: he often said he was born on "the night the West Bridge washed out." He was Charles Vaughn Meader, a millworker, and Mary Ellen Abbott's only child. His father died after his neck and drowned in a diving crash when Meader was just eighteen months old, and his mother moved to Boston to work as a cocktail waitress, leaving Meader with relatives. Meader, a sometimes ill-ruly and struggling child, was sent to live with his mother in Boston at the age of five, but she later found him in a children's home due to alcoholism.
Meader graduated from Brookline High School in 1953 after shutting down at several colleges in Massachusetts and Maine. He enlisted in the United States Army and was stationed in Mannheim, West Germany, as a laboratory technician. He formed the Rhine Rangers, a country music band, and later added impressions of famous singers to his repertoire. In 1955, Meader married Vera Heller, a German-born girl.
Personal life and death
Meader was married four times. In 1984, he married Sheila Colbath, his fourth wife. They were married until his death.
Sheila was a caller on NPR radio show Car Talk in 1992, where she announced that her husband was running for president. She questioned the hosts about a specific vehicle that she and Vaughn were considering taking on the campaign trail together. The call has been replayed on episode #2234 of the Car Talk podcast.
Meader died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at the age of 68 on October 29, 2004.
Career
Meader began his career as a guitarist and piano player. On his return from Germany, he opened a comedy act in New York City, where he discovered his gift for impersonating Kennedy. With his New England accent naturally close to Kennedy's familiar, if often parodied, Harvard accent, he had to limit his voice just a little to sound like the President. Meader also mastered facial expressions, which enabled him to have a passable similarity to Kennedy.
Meader, writers Bob Booker and Earl Doud, and a select group of entertainers performed The First Family on October 22, 1962. The album mocked Kennedy's PT-109 past; the rocking chairs he used for his back pain; the Kennedy family's well-known athleticism, football games, and family bonds; children in the White House; and Jackie Kennedy's soft-spoken character and her redecorating the Executive Mansion. The First Family set the fastest-selling record in the United States for the first time in history. During the first two weeks of its introduction, it sold 1.2 million copies in the first two weeks, and eventually sold 7.5 million copies.
Kennedy himself was said to have given copies of the album as Christmas gifts, and he once welcomed a Democratic National Committee committee by saying, "Vaughn Meader was busy tonight, so I came by myself." When asked if the album had caused "annoyment or pleasure" at one press conference, Kennedy was asked if it had caused "annoyance or delight." "I listened to Mr. Meader's album, and frankly, it sounded more like Teddy than it did." So, now he's annoyance. "Parts of it were amusing," Kennedy told Benjamin Bradlee. According to other reports, such as Thomas C. Reeves' A Question of Character: A Life of John F. Kennedy, the parodies' president, was outraged, and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy was outraged, even demanding that the President keep Meader off radio and television. Mrs. Kennedy was the most worried about their children's parodies, Caroline and John Jr.
Meader, who was still in his twenties, was instantly popular, wealthy, and in constant demand. He was profiled in Time and Life magazines, appeared on television programs including The Ed Sullivan Show, The Jack Paar Project, The Andy Williams Show, and Hootenanny. Meader also appeared on games show appearances, first on What's My Line in 1962, where the panel had to decide who the authentic Naomi Brossart was among the three lady contestants.
Despite a string of tour dates in early 1963 that were notably ineffective (Billboard announced that he "bombed" in Pittsburgh, and only 742 people attended), in Las Vegas, he played to packed houses. In 1963, the First Family received the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Meader's second album, The First Family Volume Two, was a collection of spoken comedy and songs performed by comedians and comedians portraying members of the President's family and White House staff in March. The sequel came out in 1963, and although not as popular as the first volume, it did sell hundreds of thousands of copies.
Meader left Cadence Records and Booker/Dowd to MGM Records in July 1963. Meader intended to record general satire and abandon his JFK impersonations.
Meader was busy in November 1963 recording a new comedy book, written by a different group of writers but not involving his Kennedy impersonation. President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963, effectively ending Meader's career. The First Family's copies were removed from stores and a JFK-related Christmas single by Meader ("St. Nick Visits The White House"), which had been issued shortly before the assassination was quickly dismissed by MGM's Verve Records shortly after. Most of the appearances for the Grammy Awards Ceremony were cancelled, including one for the Grammy Awards Ceremony. A week before the assassination attempt and was supposed to air in February 1964, Meader filmed an episode of The Joey Bishop Show, which was taken from the program. According to reports, the episode never aired and was undoubtedly destroyed.
According to Meader, he first heard of President Kennedy's assassination after hailing a taxicab in Milwaukee. "Did you hear about Kennedy in Dallas?" the chauffeur, who was aware of his celebrity, asked. Meader mistook it for a joke and replied, "How does it go?" says Meader. The driver told Meader of President Kennedy's death. The taxi's radio was among the most popular news alerts over the taxi's radio.
Lenny Bruce, a stand-up comedian, appeared as scheduled at his November 22 nightclub performance. Bruce walked onstage and staggered for several minutes, then: "Boy, is Vaughn Meader fucked," he said. Meader found that he was so completely typecast as a Kennedy impersonator that he couldn't find anyone eager to recruit him for any of his other skills.
Have Some Nuts on Verve Records' non-Kennedy album. In early 1964, a child with no interest was regarded at all. In late 1964, a similar sequel to If The Shoe Fits... was published, with sketches on almost every item except for the Kennedys, but sales were poor at best. Meader's income sank, new acquaintances and acquaintances stopped calling, and Meader was practically broke by 1965. He became addicted to alcohol and opioids, and was coerced to do whatever jobs he could find.
In 1971, he reunited with Earl Doud for an album called The Second Coming, a comedic look at what life would be like for Jesus if he had returned to Earth at the time of Jesus Christ Superstar, but airplay and sales were virtually nonexistent.