April 7, 2003
Fast Chat: 'Ddam Fun

Hollywood’s favorite Saddam double has benched his act

By Steve Friess

You’d think now would be the ideal time to grab gigs impersonating Saddam Hussein. But Jerry Haleva—Hollywood’s favorite Saddam double—has benched his act. NEWSWEEK’s Steve Friess asked him about it:

Why now?

In no way do I want my parody to trivialize the situation we’re in. It becomes much less funny.

You work with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee?

Yes, only in America could a nice Jewish boy get paid to make fun of Saddam.

When did you first notice the resemblance?

A picture appeared in the L.A. Times of Saddam in 1989. The sergeant-at-arms of the California Senate, where I worked, posted it with a caption, “Now we know what Haleva does on weekends.” The comments became more frequent. Ad Age ran my picture. That led to my role in “Hot Shots!”

Which Saddam is the real one?

I don’t know, but when I saw that tape with those horrible glasses, I thought, “I can do Saddam better than this guy.”

No problems going out in public?

Well, I was in D.C. when I noticed two Russian cabbies were giggling. One said, “I’m very sorry, but my friend and I think you look like somebody who is not very nice.” And I said, “It’s OK; I play him in movies.” His eyes widened and he said, “You’ve played Joseph Stalin?”

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