JFK Impersonator Vaughn Meader: Death of a Career
Mobituaries with Mo Rocca
iHeartPodcasts and CBS News
4.8 • 20.6K Ratings
🗓️ 15 November 2023
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
November 22, 2023, marks 60 years since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the end of one of the era's biggest comedy acts. During Kennedy's term, Vaughn Meader’s impersonation of the president made him a household name. The comedy album "The First Family,” in which Meader uncannily played JFK, broke sales records and won the Grammy for Album of the Year. Meader's act was so convincing and edgy for the time, White House advisers actually worried about the public confusing him for the real thing. Mo tells the story of Vaughn Meader's brief and blazing time in the limelight and the long darkness that followed, alongside never-before-heard tape of Meader recorded shortly before his death. This episode originally published on January 17, 2019.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.3 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:04.3 | Hi, everyone. It's Mo. |
| 0:06.3 | We'll be back with an all-new episode of the podcast next Wednesday, but this week we're |
| 0:11.9 | reaching into our archives all the way back to season one to share the very first episode |
| 0:18.1 | of Mobituaries, Von Meeter, and the death of a career. This November 22nd |
| 0:25.0 | marks 60 years since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Pretty much anyone who was alive on that day |
| 0:33.7 | remembers where they were when they heard the devastating news out of Dallas, Texas. |
| 0:39.6 | But no one experienced that day or its aftermath in quite the same way that Von Meeter did. |
| 0:47.1 | He was the comedian who'd skyrocketed to fame with his uncanny impersonation of JFK. In an instant that dark day, his livelihood ended |
| 0:58.1 | and his life radically changed. It's an episode we're proud of. We hope you appreciate it. |
| 1:05.3 | And be sure to tune in again next week for an all-new deep dive into the people and things who never got the send-off |
| 1:13.0 | they deserved. |
| 1:19.2 | I think we have time for one final question. |
| 1:21.9 | In the late fall of 1962, one of President John F. Kennedy's closest advisors, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., was driving |
| 1:31.3 | in his car when all of a sudden he heard the following question come over the airwaves. |
| 1:36.5 | Now that you're in office, what do you think the chances are from Jewish president? |
| 1:40.9 | A familiar voice answered. |
| 1:42.7 | Well, I think they're pretty good. |
| 1:44.4 | Now, let me say, I don't see why a person of the Jewish faith can't be president of the |
| 1:48.7 | United States. |
| 1:50.1 | I know as a Catholic, I could never vote for him, but other than that. |
... |
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