Lookalikes – people who remind us of someone else
We’ve all said it: “You know who you remind me of?” And then hopefully, we get a positive response rather than the fatal, “Buddy, you’re losing it. You are so off base. I think someone needs to get their eyes checked.”
What we’ll continue to do in this spot is sprinkle in a few doppelgangers from the Internet to placate the most vociferous critic and then every so often post a photo of a local Southern California fighter/athlete/coach/family member who we feel resembles a famous person. Alongside that famous person, we’re going to add photos of the person we believe to be almost a dead ringer or a person who often hears, “Damn! Has anyone ever told you, you look like so and so? While we’re doing our best to discover all of these lookalikes, perhaps you have someone you’d like to add. By all means, send it along. As they say, the more the merrier.
Our second lookalike is Andrea “The Boss” Medina of the Bound Boxing Academy in Chula Vista, Calif., one of the very best USA Amateur Boxers in all the land. In 2019, after winning many qualifying tournaments, Andrea was selected to represent the U. S. in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. At this juncture, the start of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics has been postponed due to the current Corona Virus outbreak. Back in April of 2010, Andrea started getting all these telephone calls from family and friends to tell her how much she resembled the child actor Chloe Grace Moretz, the star of the movie “Kick Ass.” What we did here is mix in several photos of Ms. Moretz with photos of Andrea Medina to see if you agree.
With our third entry, you just have to agree that the homerun hitter for the Baltimore Orioles, 3rd baseman Manny Machado, who was later traded to our very own San Diego Padres, could easily be mistaken for our compadre/local undefeated boxer Adrian Vargas (13-0-1) from The Arena Gym in Point Loma. After pointing out the resemblance to Adrian’s older brother, Joe Vargas, who is the Head Boxing Coach and trains all these local and National champions at The Arena, we’re proud to say, the Vargas family is in complete agreement with our assessment.
Actor Woody Harrelson and lifeguard Chris “Bam Bam” Pharo are both athletic, both are the same exact height and weight, and when it comes to temperament, facial expressions, smile and sense of humor, the resemblnce is almost uncanny.
Question for you: Which of these gentlemen is the celebrated actor, director, musician, singer, comedian, and author Hugh Laurie who from 2004 until 2012 played Dr. Gregory House on the popular TV medical drama, House? Too easy? The cane may have given him away. The other gentleman appears to be on an airport shuttle and wearing a shirt and badge worn by United Airlines employees.
If you don’t know these two gentlemen than you’ve been living under a rock. (on the left) You have the 13th President of the United States, Millard Fillmore, who was labeled the most forgettable president of all time. Born in New York, Fillmore, like our current President, Donald John Trump, switched political parties and went from the Whigs to the Know Nothing Party. To his credit, he did open Japan to the outside world while his successor The Donald appears to be headed in a different direction with North Korea’s current Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un. Until fellow New Yorker, Donald Trump was elected President in 2016, Fillmore had been considered the most lampooned U. S. president of all time. That was so true until comedic actor Alec Baldwin, Fillmore’s lookalike, decided to have some fun lampooning our current President on the popular TV Show, Saturday Night Live. Wow! Far too many coincidences.
No caption needed for our beloved sitting President (left). The other gent, Alec Baldwin (right) seems to have everyone chuckling on Saturday nights.
Photos, top row: actor William DeMeo, bottom two rows: boxer Gamaliel Diaz. The bottom right photo is the most up-to-date photo we could find of the 36-year-old former Super Featherweight World Champion.
After losing back to back title fights in 2008 and 2009, Mexican fighter Gamaliel Diaz was thought to be washed up. Instead, he went on to win 13 straight fights. Then, in early September of 2012, Diaz got a call about this golden opportunity to fight for the WBC World Title against its champion, southpaw Takahiro Ao in his hometown of Tokyo, Japan. With this being Ao’s fourth Title defense, Diaz was a huge underdog. But the money was too good to pass up. This boxing scribe just happened to watch that October 27th fight and was amazed at how Diaz completely shut down the Japanese champion to win a 12 round unanimous decision. After this “against all odds performance”, we kept further tabs on his career. Then, a friend from Philadelphia relayed me a story about this local writer/actor William DeMeo from the Bronx who was about to star in the movie he wrote called “Back in the Day.“ The movie, set in Philadelphia, was about a young boxer who was taken under the wing of a mob boss after his Mother died and his Father had been run out of town for being an abusive alcoholic. After watching this movie, we discovered that the actor/writer was the spitting image of Gamaliel Diaz. Just watch the movie and we think you’ll agree.
When you’re an actor, a make-up artist using a little hair dye can make you look like almost anyone they choose. (l to r) In the first photo, we see John Travolta in his early thirties after starring in the highly successful movie “Urban Cowboy.” The next photo shows a likeness of Travolta from the first part of the 19th century. And in the final two photos we have the deceased crime boss John A. Gotti plus an additional photo of actor John Travolta who played the mob king-pin in the soon to be released movie. Once again, a Hollywood make-up artist can make you look like almost anyone.
