Rich and Famous

Friday, Aug. 6, 2004 | 4:44 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION

August 7 - 8, 2004

Who: Rich Little.

When: 7:30 p.m., Friday through Aug. 15.

Where: Suncoast Showroom.

Tickets: $39.95.

Information: 636-7111.

The difference between you and Rich Little is that, when you walk into a Starbucks, patrons do not perform for you an impression of Richard Nixon.

"Oh, yeah. People do that," Little said last week during an interview at his home in Red Rock Country Club. "They usually do Nixon for me ... people do (Ronald) Reagan, Jimmy Stewart. Years ago it was nothing but Muhammad Ali and Howard Cosell."

A native of Ottawa, Canada, and a resident of Las Vegas for nearly 25 years, the 65-year-old Little still performs regularly in his adopted hometown and will be at the Suncoast Showroom from Friday through Aug. 15. Most of the show has been updated -- 60 to 70 percent, says Little -- but will include most of his famous impressions. Little is most noted for his presidential impressions and is a master mimic of presidents dating to Dwight Eisenhower.

Little made news in a more troubling manner eight months ago when it was reported that Little filed a complaint alleging that a close associate of his had embezzled several million dollars from the entertainer. The case is still under investigation.

Dressed casually in shorts, a collared short-sleeved shirt and golf cap bearing the American flag, Little discussed his career and the art of mimicry:

Las Vegas Sun: What was it like for you when you first started to mimic people in grade school?

Rich Little: Oh, it was great fun because the teacher never knew what I was doing. The kids thought it was great so I became kind of popular while doing it. I used to get up before the teacher arrived and do all the expressions and the voice and the mannerisms. And when the teacher would come in we'd all take our seats. He'd come in and do exactly what I just did and get big laughs. He never figured out how he could be so funny just walking into a room.

Sun: Do you believe that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery?

RL: I don't know that it is. It can be. But also, it can be the opposite. If you're trying to make a point politically you can have a little power there. You can exaggerate somebody's mannerisms that they're not too happy with, so to a lot of people it's not that flattering. To others around him it might be funny, but not to him. A celebrity might say, "That doesn't sound like me. I don't sound like that." And the wife will say, or the kids and relatives will say, "You do, you do! You do that all the time!" And they can get a little bit annoyed.

Sun: Your act has both voices and mannerisms. What do you work on first when you're developing an impression?

RL: I work on the voice first. To do John Kerry, for example, you first have to get the tone, and then see who he sounds a little like. Maybe go from there. Get some phrases. See whether he's distinctive or not.

Sun: You're working on John Kerry now?

RL: Yes, but I don't think the public really knows him. Maybe after the debates. I find he sounds a little like (the late) Robert Stack. (As Stack) "Kind of a deep voice, like that." But at the convention, when he was speaking out in front of all those people, it's a different sound. A little higher.

Sun: Is there someone you're working on right now that is a little different than you've done in the past, not a Hollywood star or political figure?

RL: Dr. Phil (McGraw). It's interesting, my cousins up in Canada don't know anybody I imitate other than Dr. Phil because he's on TV so much right now. They have no idea who Jimmy Stewart was, or even Arnold Schwarzenegger. Now, we're talking 14- or 15-year-olds, and they only know what they hear right now. At that age they don't seem to have any interest in anything in the past.

Sun: Do you instinctively pick up on unique voices in your everyday life?

RL: I found it's amazing when you listen to voices, just going around the city here, you'll go into Starbucks or you'll go into a fast-food place and a lot of the young girls, particularly ... I don't know if it's worse than it used to be or I'm just more aware of it, but it's so nasally. "Is that all ya waaant?" There's a pretty young girl at McDonald's and every time I go there she says, "Do ya want any sugar in thaaaat?" Where does this girl come from? I don't know whether you get older and siphon that out or what. But it's kind of a teenage whine you hear a lot.

Sun: Even though your imitations are funny, they seem to have a reverential feel to them, more like a tribute. Your Reagan is like that.

RL: I do a lot of jokes as Reagan, but I end it with one of his speeches, so people applaud, because he just passed away. It is a bit of a tribute, more than just comedy.

Sun: Of all the presidents you've imitated, you were closest to Reagan, right?

RL: Yeah. Reagan was just a regular guy. You never felt you were in the presence of the president, ever. I mean, it was just talking about movies and him telling corny old jokes. I knew when he was telling a story he'd told many times when Nancy used to say, "Oh honey, please. Not that story about Errol Flynn with the dirt. That's a 10-minute story." And Reagan would say, "I'll speed it up."

Sun: You've been in Las Vegas for more than 20 years. What are your thoughts on the impressionist headliners in town, Danny Gans at The Mirage and Gordie Brown at the Golden Nugget?

RL: Gordie Brown is actually from my hometown, Ottawa. I met him when he wasn't even an impersonator ... But he saw me in a concert in Ottawa and said, "That is what I'm going to do." It's very gratifying. The amazing thing is he's so good. He's kind of a new wave of impersonators, doing rapid-fire stuff. ... He's very fast and very quick on his feet. He has a great personality. He lets you know what Gordie Brown is all about, whereas Danny Gans is more structured.

Danny will do his routine word for word, line for line, every show. He's awfully good at what he does, but I don't think that people really get to know Danny Gans.

Sun: Couldn't the same be true of you? A lot of people know you only through other famous people.

RL: I've always talked about myself and tried different things, and even if they don't work I would still play along -- like (Johnny) Carson did. I have fun. But there are some impersonators who take it so seriously, or maybe they don't have the ability, or maybe it's hard to come out of the character they are in, that they don't show their true personality. So they become like a rubber stamp.

Sun: If you hadn't found a talent for doing this at an early age, do you think you'd be in show business?

RL: I'd be a shepherd (laughs). I don't know what I'd do. I can tell you it would be something close to show business. I would be either a disc jockey, or a some kind of a TV performer. A newscaster, maybe ... I certainly can never think of myself in a 9-to-5 desk job.

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