Clinton Double Is Prepared for Changing Face of Politics

As Bill Clinton winds down his presidency, a 52-year-old Laguna Hills medical equipment salesman shares his lame-duck status.

That’s because Pat Rick has spent Clinton’s two terms in the White House parlaying his resemblance to the nation’s 42nd president into a lucrative, if fleeting, job.

Working almost full time, Rick has doubled as Bill Clinton since 1992 at corporate meetings, political fund-raisers, in films and on television shows, including “Murphy Brown,” “The Late Show With David Letterman” and “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.”

Then, in the fall, he got an e-mail from Brent Mendenhall of Nevada, Mo., a fledgling George W. Bush impersonator who had discovered Rick’s Web site, https://www.counterfeitbill.com.

“Hey, Bubba, I’m going to replace you in about 14 months,” wrote Mendenhall, who was thinking of turning professional and wanted Rick’s advice.

Rick saw the missive as an opportunity, “knowing full well that with Clinton’s departure from the White House in January 2001, requests for my services will take a nose dive immediately.”

So Rick “crossed political lines” to manage Mendenhall, a 50-year-old construction company owner who won’t be the only Bush look-alike if the Texas governor wins.

“They will come out of the woodwork. It always happens,” said Janna Joos, who manages International Celebrity Images, an agency in Northridge that handles more than 800 celebrity impersonators, one of at least seven such firms in Southern California.

In the highly competitive field of celebrity impersonators (Joos alone handles 20 Elvises, eight Bill Clintons and five Hillarys), political look-alikes are in great demand, particularly during an election year.

Rick has shared the stage with look-alike Bob Doles, Ross Perots and Dan Quayles but hasn’t yet encountered a faux Al Gore.

A top impersonator with the look, voice and mannerisms of a sitting president can earn six figures annually working full time, and more if he lands a European TV commercial or high-profile corporate work, Rick said.

Corporate gigs, where organizers pull out all the stops to pull off a spoof by hiring a limo for the president with people dressed as Secret Service agents, may pay a top-notch chief executive impersonator $4,000 to $10,000 for a 10-minute performance.

“It’s a risk. Brent is making a significant investment both financially and in his time and effort in hopes that in November the new guy is George W. Bush. Otherwise, he will have had sort of a fun ride during election season and will disappear into the woodwork,” Rick said.

In taking Mendenhall under his wing, Rick is giving him the benefit of eight years’ experience portraying a presidential icon. The political odd couple appeared together for the first time at a cellular and paging communications seminar in San Antonio in October.

Rick also lined up Mendenhall’s TV debut in January, a “Tonight Show” segment featuring Mendenhall filling a time capsule with a six-pack of beer, a bong, a mirror with a suspicious white substance on it, and a book entitled “World Leaders for Dummies.”

Catching Flak in New Hampshire

In February, the pair traveled to New Hampshire to promote themselves during the primary and got more than they bargained for.

“We got snowballs thrown at us at the Gore headquarters in Concord,” said Mendenhall, who also managed to fool, however briefly, Bill Bradley when the Democratic candidate was walking through the lobby of the Holiday Inn in Manchester. “Pat went over and said, ‘Have you ever met the governor?’ Bradley turned around and we were shaking hands, and about two seconds into it he figured he had had it pulled on him.”

In March, Mendenhall flew to Los Angeles for the ninth annual “Reel Awards,” a showcase for professional and fledgling look- and sound-alikes sponsored by Joos’ agency.

Mendenhall, in a dark gray suit, red power tie and burgundy leather cowboy boots, was the only impersonator shadowed by a crew from the “National Enquirer TV” show, which had discovered him on the Internet.

At one point, Mendenhall was having an on-camera summit meeting with “Dolly Parton,” a boom mike hovering overhead, as fellow look-alikes were drawn to the glare of the TV light.

“What’s up, Georgie baby?” bellowed a boa-wearing “Jesse Ventura,” sidling up to Mendenhall.

“Do you know this guy?” the bandana-wearing Ventura look-alike said to Mendenhall, as a poofy-haired “Donald Trump” joined them, followed seconds later by a dashingly handsome “JFK Jr.”

Mendenhall beamed.

Soon, he was reeling off his best George W. lines. “They say my campaign is controlled by powerful interests. I just wish you’d all leave my mother out of this.”

Offering his standard response when asked about drugs, Mendenhall thrust out a forefinger and said, “Now, I’ve taken several big hits on this drug issue. . . .”

He was on a roll.

“I’m going to be a president who wants the American dream to touch every willing heart; I’m not going to be a president who dreamed of touching every willing part.”

Eyeing his protege, Rick grinned and said, “I think I’ve created a monster.”

Rick began impersonating Bill Clinton in 1992 after strangers kept telling him he bore a striking resemblance to the then-Arkansas governor; Mendenhall has been receiving similar treatment.

The first time came at a friend’s wedding two Labor Days ago when the sister of the bride, a Dallas resident, told him he looked just like Bush.

“I thought, I’m not looking that old, am I?” Mendenhall recalled. “About an hour into the party, I thought, ‘Wait. She’s not talking about the former president; she’s talking about the present governor.”

A couple of months later, when he saw George W. Bush’s picture in Time magazine, Mendenhall thought, “I sure do look a lot like him.” Then, after watching the Iowa straw poll in August when Bush emerged as a strong candidate, Mendenhall told himself, “I ought to get into this.”

When Rick started impersonating Clinton a decade ago, he recalled, “I thought it was going to be a short ride. But it’s been a lucrative sideline because I’ve done it as a business and not just a hobby. Many of the look-alikes just don’t know how to take it to the next level and negotiate bookings and contractual agreements for personal appearances.”

Although Rick has nonexclusive representation with several agencies that handle celebrity impersonators, he manages his own career. Unlike most talent agencies, which book a celebrity impersonator only as opportunities arise, Rick said, “A manager is going to guide you in your career, give you advice and lead you, hopefully, down the right path to becoming a better impersonator.”

Adding Gray to His Hair

As a look-alike, Mendenhall has a lot going for him. Not only does his face resemble that of George W. Bush, but he’s the same size--5-foot-11, 175 pounds. He also has dark brown hair, although, Mendenhall said, “Bush is a little grayer than I am, and when I’m in a performance I put a little graying agent on my hair.”

As for the Republican candidate’s infamous smirk, he said, “I kind of twist my mouth around and about. He raises his eyebrows a lot too.”

Capturing Bush’s slight Texas accent isn’t much of a stretch for Mendenhall, who has what he calls “a flat, Missouri hillbilly accent.” He said he’s got 15 hours of Bush’s speeches on tape, “and I’ve tried to master it as best I can.”

As for how good Mendenhall’s Bush impersonation is, Joos, who met him at the “Reel Awards,” said it depended on his monologue. “I have a feeling he’ll be very good. You can tell if they speak well and are good in public. I think he’s going to be wonderful.”

Joos wasn’t disappointed. But both Rick and Mendenhall concede that Mendenhall could use some help in polishing his act.

So while Mendenhall was in Los Angeles for three days, Rick not only got him signed up at Central Casting and several talent agencies, he arranged for Mendenhall to meet with Hollywood dialect coach Allyn Partin.

Before meeting with Mendenhall, Partin reviewed videotapes of both Bush’s speeches and Mendenhall’s performances.

“I think Brent needs to really be aware of the posture that George W. Bush has and imitate that,” she said. “Bush is quite erect and contained in his posture and the way he uses his hands is not expansive. It’s also contained. But when he does make a gesture, it stands for something: Each gesture sends a message.”

In watching videotapes of Bush campaigning in New Hampshire, where the candidate was going from person to person, Partin noticed that “Bush keeps his chin level with the floor--horizontal.” That, she said, adds to Bush’s charm. “Since his posture is so aristocratic and straight, when he did turn to a person, it gave the effect that he was focusing only on that person and, of course, the people just melted.”

Partin said Mendenhall also needed to make some “sound changes” in his Bush impersonation. Bush, for example, occasionally deletes r’s at the beginning of a word, such as saying, “thoo” for “through.” He’ll also say “Ahmuna eat,” a contraction of “I’m going to eat.” And he’ll say “breng” for bring, and “rilly” for really.

An ‘Evenly Paced’ Accent

But Bush’s west Texas accent is relatively mild, said Partin. “He’ll have rising inflections sometimes, but no drawl that people associate with all of the South and Texas as well. Southern accents usually will elongate some vowels. Bush doesn’t really linger on them. It’s a fairly evenly paced kind of accent.”

Partin also advised Mendenhall to lower his voice and to speak slower.

“Another thing in analyzing the videotapes, I noticed that Bush doesn’t open his mouth very widely when he speaks,” she said. “He even sometimes purses his lips. He sure shuts his mouth up when he’s made a point: He stops; he doesn’t ramble on and on. That’s a very powerful speech pattern as well.”

Just paying attention to little things like that, Partin said, “can make a difference.

“Brent has the will and the observant eye to accomplish this and he just needs somebody that has been trained to pick these little things out.”

Getting in front of a crowd is no problem for the low-key Mendenhall, a divorced father of two. He did some drama in high school and college and has done local theater back home in Nevada, Mo., a town of 10,000 about 100 miles south of Kansas City. Mendenhall is also used to speaking in front of business groups, “so to stand up and give a 10-minute speech about a subject I know is not a problem.”

Mendenhall describes his “George W.” speeches as “basically a whole bunch of one-liners strung together. That’s the type of speech that works. It’s similar to Leno’s or Letterman’s monologue that starts their shows.” He writes most of his jokes, with help from Rick. He also bought a few joke books for speakers and is on seven or eight “joke-a-day” services on the Internet.

And although Rick believes he’s on his way out as Clinton, Joos is not so sure.

“I don’t think Clinton is going to dry out,” she said. “I think he’ll stay around a long time. I still get requests for [look-alike] past presidents for political things. And if Hillary gets elected [as senator in New York], it will probably keep Clinton in the limelight too.”

Increasingly, Rick is sharing the spotlight with the new kid on the block. In April, he and Mendenhall flew to New York City to tape a segment for Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show.” As at the “Reel Awards,” the mentor took a back seat to his protege.

“Thank ya’ll, gracias,” Mendenhall said, opening his brief showcase at the podium. “People ask me what ‘W’ stands for and I say it’s Winner!”

The crowd groaned, but Mendenhall pressed on.

“I’m taking a break in the campaign tonight,” he said. “I haven’t seen this many celebrities since Clinton’s inauguration. That kind of reminds me of something I want to say about sex. Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure. . . . “

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Dennis McLellan can be reached at (714) 966-5986 or by e-mail at dennis.mclellan@latimes.com.