Joan Rivers ~ Ellie Weingardt

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"Can We Talk?" Ellie Weingardt is a PROFESSIONAL JOAN RIVERS TRIBUTE ARTIST. Based in Chicago she has appeared live and on many tv news shows which have aired clips of her performances. She was chosen to be on JOAN RIVERS LATE NIGHT SHOW in LA.. There is a letter from Joan on her website extolling her virtues as a Joan-Alike with an open invitation from Joan to come to her shows. Although she is a spot on look-alike for Joan Rivers, she doesn't attend amateur look-a-like conventions or contests anymore because she is too busy working for the top event producers.

She is an acclaimed actress and is best known for her role in A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN ruling the charm school with great elan. She is also an award winning voice-over actress having won the coveted WINDY AWARD for the best female voice-over in Chicago. Her stage credits are numerous, but her schedule as JOAN demands that she now be available 24 7. Ellie performs as Joan as a stand-up, mc and the red carpet fashion police. She has performed at a variety of venues from Weddings and Bar Mitzvahs, to the National Press Club in Washington DC, the Alladin Hotel in Las Vegas, as well as in Masachusettes, Arizona, Texas, California, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio and lets not forget the "unforgettable" red carpet at "HOOTERS" in South Carolina!

I remember singing, “In My Sweet Little Alice Blue Gown” for my third grade class, and as a senior in H. S. when I did a monolog in a drama class from “Joan of Arc” and the bell rang and everyone stayed frozen in their seats. I always believed entertaining was my G-D given pursuit – my singular contribution.

Upon graduation from high school, I studied dance and acting for a year in New York with a private coach nights and worked days. After a few months, I landed a part in an off-Broadway production of “Beauty and the Beast.” The play was a combination of 'Beauty and the Beast' and 'Cinderella'. I started in the role of one of the 'Wicked Step-Sisters' and later did the leading role of 'Beauty'.

I returned to Chicago and went to work at CBS in television. While there, I was on the “Music Wagon” radio show and later on “Ted Mack” singing “Got A Lot of Living to Do”.

By that time I was already married with one on the way. Four kids later, I did some local community theater and a fellow “thespian” asked me to go to the “big city” with her for acting classes. I studied with W. C. Macy (Fargo) and learned the art of “the method”. From there, I went to Second City to learn the art of “improv”. I have studied television commercial and film acting from the best, and now I teach “voice-over”, myself, at Columbia College in Chicago.” She says.

After the “method acting” class, I decided to try my luck at the profession. I got headshots, a resume, and a voice-over demo and have been fortunate to have worked with the tops in the business over the years both on stage, on film and in the booth.

Recently, I had the privilege of working with Jean Reno in “Just Visiting”.

A hugely entertaining romp through Chicago by a Medieval Knight. I also am proud to say I was in “Save the Last Dance.” I am best known for my film role as “The Charm School Teacher” in A League of Their Own for which I was featured in “Entertainment Weekly” and “Northshore Magazine”. The funniest thing is seeing yourself on screen speaking in a different language.

I have played bar-flies to Queens in my career on stage and on film. I appeared in the long running hit , “Shear Madness” on stage as Mrs. Shubert and, more recently, as Phyllis in “Follies” by Steven Sondheim.

I also perform as an improv- impressionist for corporate and social events. Joan Rivers on the red carpet, and Lucy are my most sought after doubles. I also won two trips to Hollywood.

One was to the Academy Awards where I walked down the real red carpet. The other was for a Joan Rivers look-alike contest from Fox Television where I ended up On Joan’s “Late Show.” I also went to Hollywood for the “Lucy-Desi Search” and was featured in Star Magazine as a Lucy-look-alike.

Voice-overs have been my mainstay in “show business”. After winning the highly coveted “Windy Award” for best Chicago voice-actress, I find that my imagination is best served in the quiet confines of a glass booth where you can be a talking bear or a dare-devil. I still have a client of almost twenty years for which I’ve done thousands of voice-over commercials.

My clients have been a who’s who of companies, like Coca Cola, Sears, Kelloggs, Allstate, AT&T, Mc Donald’s and my on-camera commercial work has led me all the way to Europe for Camel Cigarettes in an unforgettable spot where I’m squashed by a falling camel.

My husband finds it hard to believe that I still have time to be a wife, mother, grandmother, and homemaker---and still do good work as a Rotarian along with serving on the Cultural Arts Commission of my hometown.

www.ellieweingardt.com/joan.htm FOR MORE ABOUT ELLIE'S JOAN.

As a child, she studied with Jack and Jill Players, appearing in several roles for the theater company and the famed opera singer, Rosa Raisa.