Bob Anderson: The Dean of Impressionists

Dean Martin once said about Bob Anderson, "Bob does me better than I do me!"

Impressive as that accolade may be, there's more to it than meets the eye when it comes to why the talented entertainer is the only one qualified to wear the mantle of "The Dean of Impressionists."

It's even more than the fact that People magazine dubbed him "America's greatest singing impressionist." To be or not to be was never the question for Anderson - while others dreamed of being recording stars, Anderson actually became them - from Frank to Dean, Sammy, Tony Bennett, Mel Torme, Steve Lawrence, Tom Jones, Jack Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck and an incredible host of others. No one had ever impersonated these vocal giants before -- when Anderson began his career back in the 70's, there were no singing impressionists. Rich Little, David Frye, Fred Travalena, and Babe Pier were on the scene but their impressions focused on politicians, actors and other "talking" personalities. Jim Bailey was doing vocal impressions, but only of specific female artists such as Barbra Streisand and Judy Garland... and in full drag.

They keynote for Anderson was that he possessed a wonderful voice of his own. Always a fan of the best music, the top singers and the kinds of songs that became classics, standards and award-winners, Anderson has been influenced by the great artists who had made their mark on the world of music. He had no time for the songs that disappeared into oblivion after a few short weeks on the Rock 'n Roll charts. As a young boy, he would listen over and over and over again to the sounds of Sinatra, Davis, Bennett and the others in that genre and would sing along with their records.

Subconsciously, their vocal sounds became imbedded in Anderson's brain; little did he know at the time that one day, with his natural gift for mimicry, he would be able to reproduce those voices in an uncanny manner. Nor did he know that he would have the chance to know all these artists and be able to observe them firsthand so that he could gain the most important element to his future act - the ability to reproduce their authentic personalities, which he had observed up close and personally. And never in his wildest dreams did he expect that he would grow up to become the very first singing impressionist and the only one to ever be endorsed publicly by all these great stars on national TV.

Anderson actually began his career signing in local piano bars and supper clubs in Detroit, where he was born and raised. Upon visiting Las Vegas in 1973 to check the town out, he walked over to the Sahara Hotel where Nancy Sinatra was appearing in the main showroom. Opening the showroom doors, he discovered that Nancy was rehearsing for the show. He sat down in a booth in the back of the room, in the dark. He quietly watched the goings-on.

And then fate stepped in.

The Everly Brothers, who were to open for Sinatra, got into a fight. After three hours of rehearsal, they split up their act and left, leaving Nancy looking for an opening act. "One of the Everlys used to sing her duets such as 'Something Stupid' and 'Jackson' with her", Bob recalls, "and everyone was freaked out. They were going to change the whole show. So I walked up to the stage and told them that I was a singer from Detroit and could do those songs. Everybody laughed, but Billy Strange, Nancy's conductor, who had been Elvis' arranger, said, 'Give the kid a mic; we open in a few hours.' I ended up opening that night and Nancy took me to a shop on Maryland Parkway and bought me a tuxedo. My first time in Las Vegas, my first casino, and my name was on the marquee that evening."

After that, Nancy took the 22 year old Anderson on tour with her all over Nevada. Then in 1974, she brought the young singer on "The Merv Griffin Show" with her. Anderson sang "If" and his performance was caught by Paul Anka. Anka then called Bob and told him that he wanted to introduce him again on "The Merv Griffin Show" and that he had composed a song he wanted Bob to sing. So Anderson went on the show again a few weeks later.

Six months after that, thanks to his exposure on the show, Anderson found himself opening for Joan Rivers at the Ye' Little Club in Beverly Hills. Merv Griffin stopped by and invited Bob to a party at his home, an event that had a guest list of 200-300 people and included names like Elizabeth Taylor, George Hamilton, Gregory Peck, Kirk Douglas, Cary Grant, Burt Reynolds and Jimmy Stewart. At the party, Merv was playing the piano and he asked Bob to get up and sing out of the blue, Anderson started doing songs he knew such as "Just in Time" and doing impressions of the people who made them famous. Aware that he was looking at a unique talent, one that was dabbling in virgin territory, Merv turned to Bob and said, We've found your act. You're going to be The Singing Impressionist."

The very next day, Merv and his musical conductor, Mort Lindsay, wrote an act for Anderson. The following week, Anderson appeared on Merv's show for the third time, with Griffin introducing the young entertainer to the world as "the singing impressionist." Anderson did impressions of Tom Jones, Johnny Mathis, Sammy Davis Jr. and Tony Bennett and received a standing ovation from the crowd. His sense of humor and touches of comedy were already becoming distinguished assets in his performances.

By 1977, it seemed that the road to stardom was unstoppable for the impressionist. Deemed top in his field by both Merv Griffin and Johnny Carson, Anderson was invited back for numerous guest spots on their respective shows. In fact, Anderson made 100 talk show appearances over a period of seven years, from 1979-86, which was unprecedented at the time. Also unprecedented was the fact that he appeared on the top-rated "Tonight Show" twice in just four days. All told, he did 13 Johnny Carson Tonight shows, more than 50 Merv Griffin shows and 25 Mike Douglas shows as well as appearing on "The Dinah Shore Show", "The David Letterman Show", "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee" and "The John Davidson Show". He also did an HBO Special with Rich Little and a Showtime special with John Byner.

After the first Carson show, Anderson got a two-week gig at the "in" spot in Las Vegas, the Top of the Dunes. The two-week engagement turned into nearly 200 weeks. Virtually making the room his own from 1979-81, Anderson saw stars such as Paul Anka, Tony Bennett, Bobby Darin, Sammy Davis Jr., Robert Goulet, Liberace and Joe Williams, along with other impressionists such as John Byner, Rich Little, David Frye, Fred Travalena and Babe Pier, in his audience on a constant basis. The biggest names in show business would drop by for Bob's late show and join him on stage, a tradition that still takes place wherever he performs. At his recent engagement at the Desert Inn, for example, Tom Jones, Steve Lawrence, Tony Bennett, Engelbert Humperdinck, Robert Goulet, Jack Jones, Bill Medley, Frankie Avalon and Buddy Greco came into see Anderson's show and got up and performed with the impressionist.

After the Dunes engagement, Bob started working with headliners like Johnny Carson, Bill Cosby, Jerry Lewis, Sammy Davis Jr. and Shirley Bassey and appearing all over the United States as well as South Africa, England, Switzerland, Finland, Australia, Monte Carlo, and Europe. He performed at the Kennedy Awards in Washington D.C. in honor of Henry Kissinger and also at Friar's Club roasts for Kirk Douglas, Jimmy Stewart, Gregory Peck, President Ford, Tony Bennett and Milton Berle.

With all his acclaim, its no wonder that when in January of the new Millennium, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Nevada's largest daily newspaper, asked its readers to name their all-time Las Vegas performer, Anderson came in at number 12, smack dab in between Barbra Streisand and Ray Charles. In order of choice the list read as follows: (1) Frank Sinatra, (2) Dean Martin, (3) Sammy Davis Jr., (4) Tom Jones, (5) Elvis Presley, (6) Paul Anka, (7) Johnny Mathis, (8) Andy Williams, (9) Wayne Newton, (10) Tony Bennett, (11) Barbra Streisand, (12) Bob Anderson, (13) Ray Charles, (14) Liberace, (15) Jimmy Durante, (16) Tony Orlando, (17) Judy Garland, (18) Robert Goulet, (19) Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, and (20) Shecky Greene. The fun part is that Anderson can re-create the vocal sounds of almost everyone on the list!

Always working, Anderson has become one of the top solo attractions for corporate America, all-star benefits and in the top clubs and showrooms around the world. 

Bob has a thousand family members and friends back in Michigan where he married his high school sweetheart, Karen. They have two children, Carrie and Matt. Bob and his family now live in Branson, Missouri, "The Live Music Capital of the World".