Impressionist David Frye dies in Las Vegas at 77
Comic David Frye, whose impressions of Presidents Richard Nixon, Lyndon Johnson and other prominent political figures vaulted him to popularity in the 1960s and 1970s, has died in Las Vegas at the age of 77.
Clark County Coroner Mike Murphy said Saturday that Frye died of cardiopulmonary arrest at his home on Monday.
Frye’s sister, Ruth Welch of Boynton Beach, Fla., said he was a born genius who began by imitating neighbors in Brooklyn, N.Y., where they grew up.
She said her brother had an “ear for people’s voices” and an “eye for their movements.”
Frye also imitated such political and entertainment figures as Hubert Humphrey, George Wallace, William F. Buckley, Walter Cronkite, Kirk Douglas and Howard Cosell.
Among others, Frye appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show and “The Tonight Show” starring Johnny Carson.
Perhaps best-known for his spot-on impression of a nervous and shifty Richard Nixon, Frye’s career cooled after Nixon resigned in 1974 and faded from the political scene.
According to the comprehensive online Internet Movie Database, Frye last appeared on “The Tonight Show” in 1973. Seven years later, he was in Las Vegas for what the Review-Journal called a comeback, playing two nights a week at the Casino Lounge at the Aladdin.
Most of the comic’s gigs in those years came from the college lecture circuit.
In a 1986 Review-Journal interview while playing the Riviera, Frye said he rarely worked nightclubs anymore because TV appearances were few.
“I haven’t worked on a nightclub stage in years,” Frye said. “TV gives you exposure and in turn, drawing power. There aren’t too many shows left on TV where a guy like me can perform, so with no drawing power, I’m not in demand on the nightclub circuit.”
He recorded the comedy albums “David Frye Presents the Great Debate” in 1980 and “Clinton: An Oral History” in 1998, but never again saw the level of fame he achieved in the Johnson and Nixon years.
