Look-Alike Elvis Creating Look-Alike Graceland

Danny Uwnawich, an Elvis Presley look-alike, was standing outside the house he is building in Northridge recently when a motorist drove by, leaned out his window and shouted, “All right! It’s true!”

Indeed Elvis lives, at least in spirit. Consider the house Uwnawich has under construction: an estimated $1-million scaled-down facsimile of Presley’s famous Graceland mansion.

“I want it here for the people that have never been to Graceland,” said Uwnawich, a professional Elvis impersonator who plans to move into the two-story, Georgian-styled house at the corner of Parthenia Street and Zelzah Avenue upon its completion in May. “I want this to be a landmark, like Graceland comes to the Valley.”

Some of Uwnawich’s neighbors are a bit wary of the project, even though he promises to keep the house as a private residence and not open it for tours.

“So Elvis is in my neighborhood. Who cares?” said one resident. “I just don’t want a wild party.”

Wanted Big Boulevard

Clare Rowan, who has lived on Parthenia Street for 22 years, adopted a brighter outlook. “At least we know we don’t live in a planned community.” Curious to get a look at the final product, Rowan said, “I’m anxious to see them get finished.”

Uwnawich, who has been impersonating Elvis on-stage for the last 16 years, said he searched for six years for an appropriate site for “Melody Land,” as he calls his Graceland replica. He finally settled on Parthenia Street, he said, because “I wanted it on a big boulevard.”

He purchased the site in 1986, had the house sitting there torn down and started building the Elvis tribute the following year.

Only the house’s wooden frame is finished now, but the resemblance to Graceland is already apparent. Large white wrought-iron gates installed out front are shaped like an open music book. Ornamental guitar players and musical notes decorate the gates--just like those at the original mansion outside of Memphis.

“The only people who have those gates is me and him ,” said Uwnawich, a 10-year resident of Van Nuys.

“Melody Land” will be considerably smaller than Graceland--it will have only three bedrooms--but Uwnawich insists it will accurately resemble the larger mansion in many other ways.

Mini-Museum Inside

Inside, it will have a mini-museum to house Uwnawich’s $10,000 collection of Elvis memorabilia, including books, records and photos, as well as clothing, scarfs and rings that once were owned by Presley. A small recording studio will be built behind the house for rehearsals by Uwnawich and his band.

The contractor building the 8,000-square-foot house, Ricky P. Davidson, said Uwnawich flew him to Memphis, Tenn., to see the original Graceland to ensure that details of the mansion are accurately reproduced. “He’s spending a lot of money, he said. “It’s going to be a big party house--an entertaining house.”

When he’s not on the road impersonating his idol, Uwnawich works as an actor. His screen credits include “The Living Legend,” “Halloween III,” and “Kojack,” as well as small role in the made-for-TV movie, “Elvis and Me.”

Uwnawich, who goes by the stage name of Danny U, said he started impersonating Presley 15 years ago, doing stage shows in Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area. “At first I wanted to be a guitar player. I wanted to be successful. So I figured I wanted to follow a guy that everybody liked and was successful and, Elvis was king, the king of rock ‘n’ roll.”

Uwnawich claims to have been the first professional Elvis impersonator to have performed in Las Vegas while the “king” himself was still alive. He also claims that Elvis saw him perform at a 1973 show in that city. After the show, Uwnawich said, Presley came backstage and presented him with a gold chain bearing the letters TCB, or “taking care of business,” Elvis’ personal motto.

“My knees were shaking,” Uwnawich said of the experience. “My face turned red. I felt kind of silly.”

Like his idol, Uwnawich is also something of an enigma. For example, he insists he is 29 years old, while records at the state Department of Motor Vehicles list his age as 34.

In any case, Alan Stein, a spokesman for the LA Cabaret in Encino, confirmed that Uwnawich and his band have performed at the club several times. “He does a good Elvis,” Stein said. “I’ve seen other Elvis acts before. He’s pretty authentic.”

Part of that authenticity may be the work of Patti Parry, Elvis’ personal hairdresser for 17 years. Parry, who works at Valerie’s salon in Beverly Hills, also cuts Uwnawich’s hair. “He’s very adamant” about the style, said Parry. “He wants it just like Elvis.”

The fuss doesn’t go to Uwnawich’s head, though. “I don’t think I’m Elvis,” he said. “I’m not that kind of guy. When I do shows, it’s just Danny U doing a tribute to Elvis. It’s fun . . . it brings back memories. It makes me happy.”

So what does he think of the tabloid-fueled rumors that Presley is alive?

“He wouldn’t do that to his daughter, Lisa Marie,” Uwnawich said. “He loved her too much. No, there will never be another Elvis. Never in a million years.”