Look-alike
From Free net encyclopedia
A look-alike is a living person who closely resembles another living person. In popular Western culture, a look-alike is a person who bears a close physical resemblance to a celebrity, politician or royalty. Many look-alikes earn a living by making guest appearances at public events or appearing on television and film playing the person they look like, often in scenes which call for special skills. Perhaps the most famous look-alike is Jeannette Charles who has worked as a look-alike to Queen Elizabeth II since the early 1970s. Some look-alike actors play more than one role in a production. Another well-known look-alike is Steve Sires who resembles Bill Gates of Microsoft. Sires came to attention when Sires attempted to trademark "Microsortof" and subsequently acted in some Microsoft company commercials. However, Sires has been infamous for taking part in "The Assassination of Bill Gates", where Sires' character makes a speech, looks up, and then is assassinated.
Examples of look-alikes in contemporary history and media
- The BBC comedy programme Doubletake made extensive use of look-alikes playing their doubles in apparently embarrassing situations, seen through CCTV cameras and amateur video, using distance shots and shaky camera-work to disguise the true identity of those being filmed.
- The 1993 film Dave featured a look-alike who was hired to impersonate the president who has suffered a stroke which left him in a persistent vegetative state.
- The 2002 film Bubba Ho-Tep starred Bruce Campbell in the role of an elderly Elvis Presley who had traded places with an Elvis impersonator named Sebastian Haff (also played by Campbell), and now lived in a nursing home.
- The 2005 film Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith features actor Wayne Pygram, who, in the film, looks remarkably like Peter Cushing. Through stock footage, the film's producers wanted Cushing to reprise his role of Grand Moff Tarkin from Star Wars. However, the footage was deemed unusable.
- Saddam Hussein employed several look-alikes for political purposes during his Iraq reign.
- Jack Shephard a.k.a Foxy from Lost and Southampton soccer player Peter Madsen.