Fred Travalena, master impressionist, dies at 66

LOS ANGELES TIMES

LOS ANGELES — Fred Travalena, the master impressionist and singer whose broad repertoire of voices ranged from Jack Nicholson to Sammy Davis Jr. to Bugs Bunny, has died. He was 66.

Travalena, who began being treated for an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2002 and saw the disease return last July after going into remission in 2003, died Sunday at his home here, said his publicist, Roger Neal. Travalena also was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2003 but had been in remission since then.

Dubbed “The Man of a Thousand Faces” and “Mr. Everybody,” Travalena emerged on the national stage as an impressionist in the early 1970s.

Over the next three decades, he was a headliner in Las Vegas, Reno and Atlantic City, performed in concerts around the country, appeared on “The Tonight Show” and other talk shows and starred in his own specials, such as “The Many Faces of Fred Travalena” and “Comedy in the Oval Office.”

Travalena received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2005.

He is survived by his wife of 39 years, Lois; sons Fred IV and Corey; and a granddaughter, Sophia.

Funeral services will be private A public memorial service is being planned.