Born in Des Moines, Iowa and reared in the Great Plains of South Dakota, Wally developed a love for performing at an early age. In Wally’s late teens, his dream was to become a Muppeteer. Though he never pursued that goal, his puppeteering experience was primarily responsible for getting him his “SAG” (Screen Actor’s Guild) card. For in late 1993 he landed an episodic role on CBS-TV’s “Murphy Brown.” His performance as the irrepressible Kelbo remains one of the most-seen “Murphy Brown” clips ever. (wallyontheweb.com)
Wally Wingert is by far one of the best impersonators I have ever heard. The quality of his performances remind me of Rich Little, another famous impersonator who in recent times lent his voice to various characters on John Lovitz’ The Critic.
The fascinating thing about watching Wally perform his various characters is not only the way in which he fully encompasses the character he’s playing but also his performance. He literally is the character he’s playing.
Likewise, many impersonators and voice-over artists allows themselves to become someone else for a few moments to a few hours recording their voices in a professional recording studio. After their session has been completed the track is then used accordingly for the specific media it was intended for; be it commercial, tv spot, movie ad, cartoon voice-over etc.
Wally, according to his web site has lent his his voice to various cartoons such as Family Guy, Invader Zim and Transformers. He also performs his characters in front of a live audience for events like Uncle Davver’s Really Scary Movie Show, a gala movie event in Los Angeles, and played the character of the Ghost with the Most Beetlejuice in the mid-90s Beetlejuice’s Graveyard Revue attraction at Universal Studios, Hollywood.
Wally’s website not only includes voice clips but also interviews, video clips of his performance as Andy Kaufman (and his alter-ego Tony Clifton — a spot on impersonation I might add) and my favorite feature; the Makeup Process. It is here that Wally explains step-by-step his transformations into various characters like Paul Stanley, Georgie Riggs, Austin Powers and a vampire from Buffy.
In short, Wally Wingert is awesome. Check out the website, especially his performance as Kaufman. It’s brilliant.
Nice job on Wally…also, congrats on getting the piece on Wally onto Wally’s website!