David Frye

{{Short description|American comedian (1933–2011)}}

{{hatnote group|

{{for|another person|David Frye (American football)}}

{{similar names|David Fry (disambiguation)}}

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{{Infobox comedian

| name = David Frye

| image = Richard Nixon- A Fantasy by David Frye.jpg

| imagesize =

| caption = David Frye featured on his album, Richard Nixon: A Fantasy

| pseudonym =

| birth_name = David Shapiro

| birth_date = {{birth date|1933|11|21}}

| birth_place = New York City, United States

| death_date = {{death date and age|2011|01|24|1933|11|21}}

| death_place = Las Vegas, Nevada

| medium =

| years_active = 1956−2010

| nationality =

| active =

| genre =

| subject =

| influences =

| influenced =

| spouse =

| domesticpartner =

| notable_work = {{ubl|I Am the President|Richard Nixon: A Fantasy}}

| signature =

| website =

| footnotes =

| current_members =

| past_members =

}}

David Frye (born David Shapiro, November 21, 1933{{spaced ndash}}January 24, 2011) was an American comedian, specializing in comic imitations of famous political figures, most of whom were based on notable Americans, including former U.S. Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon, Vice Presidents Hubert Humphrey, Spiro Agnew, and Nelson Rockefeller, and Senator Bobby Kennedy, as well as film celebrities, e.g., George C. Scott, Henry Fonda, Kirk Douglas, Robert Mitchum, Jack Nicholson, Jack Palance and Rod Steiger, and media figures, e.g., William F. Buckley Jr. and Larry King.video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI9gJU4k6Y0 David Frye performing in 1969]

However, as eerily accurate and subtle as his impersonations were, the comedic narratives spoken by those depicted by Frye were outrageously à propos as well as politically savvy and au courant.{{cite web |url={{Allmusic|class=artist|id=p168 |tab=overview |pure_url=yes}} |title=David Frye Biography |publisher=Rovi Corporation |work=Allmusic |first=Larry |last=Lapka |accessdate=26 December 2012}} For example, in one narrative, Frye had newly elected Nixon and his wife visit the White House just prior to assuming residency there in 1969. The incumbent Johnson answers the doorbell, oblivious as to the identity of his unannounced visitors, misidentifying them even after introductions have been made:

:{{dialogue

|Johnson=Johnson

|Nixon=Nixon

|action|Doorbell rings|Johnson|I'll get it, Lady Bird! Who's there?|Nixon|It's Dick and Pat.|Johnson|It's Pick 'n Pat!|mood4=shouting|Nixon|No, it's Dick and Pat: The President Elect ... and Mrs. Elect.|Johnson|I understand.|Johnson|Company comin' up, Lady Bird! Beautify yourself!|mood7=shouting back

}}

Another, from a February 1971 appearance on NBC's Kraft Music Hall, had him appearing in two segments. In the first, he portrayed Humphrey as a drug store owner (harkening back to Humphrey's original vocation) being interviewed by show host Eddy Arnold. The latter segment had Frye impersonating Nixon, William F. Buckley, Jr., George Jessel, Truman Capote and Liberace at a Valentine's Day party.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_fAqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=GooFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1934,1452292 |title=Eddy Arnold Again Hosts Music Hall |newspaper=Schenectady Gazette |page=19 |date=6 February 1971}} Frye often keyed off President Nixon's own catchphrases ("Let me make one thing perfectly clear",{{cite book | last=Safire | first=William | title=Safire's Political Dictionary | year=1993 | page=[https://archive.org/details/safiresnewpoliti00will/page/549 549] | location=New York | publisher=Random House | isbn=0-679420-68-1 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/safiresnewpoliti00will }} or Kennedy's ("Let me say this about that".)

In 1973, Frye's album, Richard Nixon: A Fantasy, which dealt with Nixon's Watergate troubles, developed marketing problems when all three network affiliates in New York City (WNBC-TV, WABC-TV and WCBS-TV) rejected commercials promoting the album, citing questions of taste. In addition, the Woolworth's department store chain decided not to stock the record because, in their words, "some of our customers might be offended."{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=lrUlAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mvMFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1007,961436 |title=Rejection snag for David Frye's Watergate album |newspaper=The Miami News |page=4C |date=4 September 1973}}

Although his heyday was in the 1960s and early 1970s, when his Nixon and Lyndon B. Johnson impersonations were definitive, Frye continued to create masterful new impressions and evolve old ones. His 1998 album Clinton: An Oral History featured riffs on Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Pat Buchanan, and John McLaughlin, plus that of an older Nixon (complete with pauses and phrasing more typical of the ex-President as he sounded in the 1980s and 1990s).