CAMARILLO : Reagan Look-Alike Still in the Running

Jay Koch isn’t picky about his politics.

The Camarillo resident, who has worked as a Ronald Reagan look-alike for 11 years, voted for the former President in both national elections, he said.

But he said it doesn’t bother him that many of his more than 1,000 jobs as a look-alike have been for Democrats.

Earlier this year, Koch appeared at an Americans for Democratic Action dinner, where the guests included such noted liberals as former Gov. Jerry Brown. Koch made a tongue-in-cheek speech, written by his hosts, about his contributions to liberal causes.

But there are limits to what Koch will do, he said.

“I screen the speeches,” he said. “If there’s something distasteful, I won’t include it.”

A greeting card company once photographed him holding a birthday cake that said, “From one old fool to another, Happy Birthday,” he said. But when the same company wanted a picture of Koch partly undressed in the bathroom, he wouldn’t comply.

Most of his appearances are before conventions that are not political, he said. He has also appeared in TV shows such as “Murphy Brown” and “Night Court” and in movies ranging from “Back to the Future II” to Japanese features.

It doesn’t take much for Koch to get ready for his jobs.

“It’s the haircut I’ve had since my high school days,” he said, adding that he makes it a little higher for his performances. And he wears no makeup.

Even in his native New York City, where Koch worked as a police officer for 20 years before retiring to California in 1971, people told him he looked like the famous actor-turned-politician.

Without his knowledge, his wife, Sylvia, sent a photograph of him to a 1980 National Enquirer Reagan look-alike contest. He won, and the calls from look-alike agencies began coming in. But many of the job offers required him to speak and act the part. Koch earns between $350 and $500 for each local appearance and about $1,000 for out-of-state jobs, Sylvia Koch said.

“The voice was the toughest thing,” he said. It took two years of studying the President’s televised speeches before Koch learned to hide his own strong Brooklyn accent.

“I find if I speak softly, it works better,” he said in the breathy tone of the former President.

At times, reality has overlapped with the fantasy created by Koch’s performances.

After the attempt on Reagan’s life, Koch said, some theatrical agents insisted that bodyguards accompany Koch on his jobs.