Fred Travalena, the Vegas cutup and late-night TV stalwart known as "The Man of a Thousand Faces," died Sunday after a long battle with cancer. He was 66.
Travalena passed away at his Encino, Calif., home from non-Hodgkins lymphoma, which he was diagnosed with in 2002. He also was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2003, after which the funnyman spent the next five years in remission before the lymphoma returned last July.
Travalena's master mimicry ran the gamut from Frank Sinatra, Jack Nicholson, Bugs Bunny, Dr. Ruth, Clint Eastwood and Bruce Springsteen to presidents like JFK and Richard Nixon. He boasted of having nearly 400 voices in his repertoire, and broke them out on everything from The Jetsons and Scooby-Doo to appearances on The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson, Late Show With David Letterman and The New Hollywood Squares. He also made the requisite appearances on Love Boat and Fantasy Island.
Travalena is survived by his wife of 39 years, Lois, two sons and a granddaughter.