Las Vegan’s uncanny ‘Duke’ impression wows Republicans

Tuesday, July 25, 2000 | 9:33 a.m.

Wearing a weathered, leather cowboy hat and matching vest, a blue Western-style shirt and ruddy old blue jeans, John Wain welcomes a curious visitor to his cozy Las Vegas home.

Spread out on a living room table are assorted photos, press clippings and thank-you letters to the man who claims to perform the most accurate John Wayne portrayal of anyone, anywhere.

Pilgrim.

Right out of the chute Wain is asked an obvious question: "Is that your real name?"

Dropping into his uncanny John Wayne voice and squinting slightly, Wain answers, "Why, yes it is."

"Really?"

"Ask me again," Wain/Wayne says, rolling his shoulders.

"Is that your real name?"

"That should be it," Wain says, snapping back with an agitated snarl.

But Wain has, ever so briefly, crossed over the line of mere portrayal, forgetting to drop the act and offer his given name -- which is Lloyd LeBlanc. A day passes before he sets the record straight.

"That's been bugging me all night," he says in his own voice, owning up to the discrepancy just as the Duke would. "I had my name changed years ago."

That was in 1978, six years after he started impersonating Wayne before public audiences. In the time since Wain has performed as John Wayne all over the country, mostly at rodeos (including the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas), military bases and big-budget corporate functions.

Locally, Wayne's act has been a recurring feature for "Legends In Concert" since 1985 and he enjoyed a three-year run as Wayne at the old Boomtown hotel-casino. He's also performed extensive engagements in Reno and Lake Tahoe.

But this week the 68-year-old Las Vegas resident (a part-time security officer when not performing) embarks on what he considers his most important gig ever, "Duke-ifying" the Republican National Convention celebration in Philadelphia. Wain will be performing his Wayne tribute daily from Wednesday through Aug. 3 at PoliticalFest, which is billed as "a celebration of the American presidency" at the Philadelphia Convention Center.

PoliticalFest is not to be confused with the actual Republican National Convention, which will be held five miles away at the First Union Center from Monday-Aug. 3. Rather, PoliticalFest is an arm of the convention set up like a big mall that features a scaled-down replica of the White House, memorabilia shops (you can never have enough Republican elephant earrings), a display called "The Campaign Trail," an area dedicated to Philadelphia and the presidency, a reading area offering the literature of various Republican presidents, and a 500-seat convention area where visitors can listen to speeches, view the convention on giant monitors and enjoy entertainment.

That's Wain's venue. For 10 days, four times a day, Wain will give the Republican Party a patriotic shot in the arm -- drawing solely from his alter ego, of course. It did take considerable persuading and persistence for Wain to connect with the party.

"This isn't a business where you wait by the phone. I had to contact them, and it took repeated phone calls, every two weeks, before they said they were interested," Wain says. "But I'm the only entertainer there for 10 days. Others are coming and going, but I'm constant."

Wain will perform a couple of his signature monologues. In one, written by Marine Cpl. Anthony Shaw (also of Las Vegas), Wain speaks over musical accompaniment as a 100-foot American flag waves in the background. He addresses the crowd speaking as the flag, which is decidedly miffed at the country's waning patriotism.

"When you see me coming stand straight and erect. Put your right hand over your heart, and I'll salute back by proudly waving in the breeze," Wain proclaims as the music dramatically builds.

Wain is also reciting the John Mitchum spoken-word piece "America -- Why I Love Her" throughout PoliticalFest.

There is even a possibility, although a Republican Party spokeswoman refused to confirm as much, that Wain might make an appearance at "The Big House" -- on the convention floor.

"They've indicated that there will be special performance in the middle of the convention and for me to be ready," Wain says. "I'm thinking that might be in front of the big crowd (at the First Union Center)."

In his deeply personal portrayal, Wain employs Hal Holbrook's one-man Mark Twain tribute as a blueprint. Wain's is much more involved than the farcical impressions offered up by Rich Little and John Byner, among others.

"When I tell people I do a John Wayne show, they say, 'What do you mean?' like it's some kind of joke," Wain says. "But I literally, whole-heartedly become him, 100 percent."

To become totally immersed in the Wayne persona, Wain memorized more than 150 pages of film scripts. If an audience member calls out, "Do a little Sergeant Striker" from "The Sands of Iwo Jima," Wain is ready with a dead-on impression of Wayne pumping up a group of Marines, as he does in the film.

However, movie mimicry was not enough to meet Wain's objective to provide a full-scale Wayne portrayal. He went back and pored over Wayne's political comments and found the legendary actor to be highly opinionated (and often out of step with many of his acting colleagues), particularly during the divisive Vietnam War era.

"I decided I wanted to do something constructive and I was going to say something about him that people maybe didn't know," Wain says. "He felt strongly about a lot of things."

A sampling of the Duke's political commentary of the time, courtesy of Wain's stunning impersonation:

"I used to consider myself as a liberal, but now I consider myself as a tolerant conservative. Hell, I haven't met a liberal yet who will listen to anybody's opinion on anything."

Such recitations are much more inspiring (or abrasive, depending on your political bent) than the usual campy "Howdy, pilgrim" fare.

"When I first started doing this, I realized how patriotic this guy was and how much he loves his country," Wain says. "He was a true patriot. I share his views, extremely. If not, I would never have done this."

Wain originally considered himself more a patriot than entertainer. A native of Fitchberg, Mass. (an unlikely breeding ground for John Wayne impersonators), Wain served in the Marines in the early '50s. After being honorably discharged he took a swing at a career in professional baseball --- while in the Cleveland Indians' minor-league chain, his roommate was Roger Maris, who broke Babe Ruth's major-league's home run record in 1961 and held it until Mark McGwire moved to the top in 1998.

After an arm injury ended his hopes of becoming a big-league pitcher, Wain moved to Baltimore and worked as a police officer. He married and divorced, returning to Tampa, Fla. (where he'd been based in the Marines) and worked as a salesman at a car dealership. He started performing voice-overs on radio commercials, and a co-worker noticed an oddity in Wain's New England accent.

"He said, 'You know, you sound like John Wayne,' " Wain recalls. "He told me, 'Not only do you sound like him, but you kind of look like him.' "

That was enough to spark Wain's keen interest in the Duke, and he began buying the nearly 250-movie Wayne catalogue and recording his voice until he had Wayne perfected. He toured the country and wound up at a star-studded Republican fund-raising gala in Las Vegas (at the old MGM Grand) in 1982. Officials from the "Legends" production, which was just being organized, caught the act and a year later Wain moved to Las Vegas permanently as part of the production.

Wain is acutely aware that the Republican Party -- always eager to wave the flag during a presidential campaign season -- provides a unique career option. Who knows? George W. might be so impressed with Wain that he could become a White House frequenter should the younger Bush win the election.

"I would like to go on the campaing trail with Mr. Bush, that would be nice. Could you imagine me warming up a campaign rally?" Wain says, grinning. "I'd like to be invited to the inauguration. That's something I've given a lot of thought to."

There's no faulting the replica Duke. Such optimism embodies the American spirit, after all.

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