FRED TRAVALENA - ENTERTAINER TRAVALENA DEAD AT 66

ENTERTAINER TRAVALENA DEAD AT 66

Entertainer FRED TRAVALENA has become the latest star to pass away in a week of tragic celebrity deaths.
The impressionist and singer was 66 when he died at his home in Encino, California on Sunday (28Jun09).
Travalena fought non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2002 and the disease returned last summer (08) after going into remission.
Dubbed 'The Man of a Thousand Faces' for his ability to mimic stars like Jack Nicholson, Sammy Davis, Jr. and even Bugs Bunny, Travalena became a big name in America in the early 1970s.
He went on to become a mainstay headliner in Las Vegas, Reno, Nevada and Atlantic City, New Jersey - and was a regular on the U.S. chat show circuit.
In one part of his beloved act, Travalena mimicked all the U.S. presidents, from John F. Kennedy to George W. Bush.
He was also famous for singing signature tune Have I Told You Lately as Kermit the Frog, Frank Sinatra and Katharine Hepburn, according to the Los Angeles Times. He even wowed fans with a routine, in which he played Sinatra imitating Boy George.
Flowers have been placed on his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which is awash with tributes to those stars who have passed away in the last seven days, like Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Gale Storm and Ed MCMahon.