And another funny man has died. There was a time when David Frye was the uncontested king of political impressions. His Nixon was the one to beat and I don't think anyone ever did. Nor could they top his Lyndon Johnson, his George Wallace or (especially) his William F. Buckley. That he could replicate the voices was not as impressive as the way he could somehow scrunch his face and shoulders to make himself look like the person he was doing.
He told others that it was only about the face and expression with him; that he spent very little time trying to learn anyone's voice. If he could get the face right, he would automatically sound like the person. His modus operandi required a mirror for practice. If he worked a club that didn't have a dressing room with a mirror, he could be found before his performance in the men's room, rehearsing in front of the one they had in there. And if there wasn't one available to him, he was likely to walk out and go home.
In his jacket pocket, he always carried photos — usually torn sloppily out of newspapers — of the people he did. Once on The Merv Griffin Show, Merv unexpectedly asked him to do his Al Capp impression and Frye froze up. He couldn't do Capp out of nowhere so he turned away from the camera as much as possible in a seated position, pulled a wad of photos out of his pocket and began riffling through, looking for Capp. Puzzled, Merv asked, "What are those?" And Frye, a bit embarrassed, muttered, "I look at pictures of them."
Then he found his Al Capp photo, locked onto the face and instantly turned into Al Capp. It was a bit scary at times. No other impressionist could crawl inside his subjects quite as thoroughly...but no other impressionist seemed like he was utterly possessed by them.
I can't fully explain why his career took such a plunge in the late seventies and eighties. This obit suggests it was because he couldn't survive the loss of Nixon and L.B.J. as primary targets. Maybe...but others came along who were as ripe for mocking and Frye didn't rise to those occasions. I suspect it was something deeper within him, coupled with a decreasing marketplace for impressionists. Mimics like Rich Little, Frank Gorshin and John Byner all managed to work often as character actors...but David Frye only did imitations.
Back in this posting in 2006, I wondered what had become of him and told a story of a bizarre encounter with the man. This led to a brief follow-up here. I would end this by saying, "He will be missed" but I think he already has been...for years.
Here's a short clip from The Ed Sullivan Show that David Frye himself apparently put up on YouTube. It's a bit out of sync but then so was he...
Here's one from Name Withheld. I don't think that's her (it's a lady) real name...
I appreciate all the advice you post to writers but most of it seems to be for those who are already in the field of professional writing. Some of us are writers only in our minds and dreams. I work in a store and I consider myself a writer who just hasn't been able to exercise that portion of her abilities yet. I've started writing a number of things but I find myself unable to finish material because I know it will just sit there on my computer or on my desk and not go nowhere. I'm sure that if someone gave me the opportunity to sell something and see it published, I could rise to the challenge. The problem is that I don't know how to get that challenge. Do you have any advice for me and don't tell me to just finish scripts and see where they go. I can't finish if I don't know they have a chance of going somewhere.
Well then, you're fooling yourself to think you're a writer. A writer finishes things...even things that never get sold. Every professional writer has things they've written that never sold or reached the public. In fact, we all have things we've written that upon reflection, we're very glad didn't reach the public. That script you're writing now may turn out to be one that will never sell but you'll never know that until you try, which means you have to finish it. As the saying goes, there are no great uncompleted novels.
I understand the obstacle presented by the knowledge that once you finish the thing, it may sit on your desk forever. I have a not-dissimilar problem from time to time when I'm hired to write a TV or movie script that I know or even suspect will never get in front of a camera. Even though I'm guaranteed my pay, it's tough to get over that I'm writing something no audience will ever see. In some ways, that's even tougher than when I was starting out and writing things with no prospect for a sale or even a reading. Back then, I accepted that as a stage every writer just has to go through...like a baseball player going through training and batting practice. There are few professions in the world — or at least, few in the creative area — where you don't start out in the wilderness.
So the answer to your question is: Yes, I have advice for you. Finish the danged scripts or forget about being a writer anywhere beyond your hopes and dreams.
January 28, 2011
