ERMAL
WALDEN WILLIAMSON
And
PAULA
ERLENE
performs Tuesday, January 6th at 7pm at
Quartzsite Senior Center $5 at the door
40 Moon Mt., Quartzsite, Arizona
Ermal Walden Williamson, a man of the West, ex-stuntman for
Universal Studios in Hollywood, California is also the John Wayne Look-alike and
Impersonator doubling for the Duke in the Coors Light commercials He has been performing
on Duke’s yacht, the Wild Goose”. ever since it has been rescued from almost
going to Davy Jones’ Locker and continues to thrill people several times a
month on board. He has ridden in the
Tournament of Roses Parade many times as John Wayne, and has performed many patriotic
recitations at the Rose Bowl and other events preceding the parade.
He travels the world, appearing at corporate events
throughout the country as host, emcee and/or entertainer.
As an entertainer, he is an after-dinner speaker and a
key-note speaker, hosting conventions, performing at trade-shows, and emcees
seminars.
Ermal is the recipient of the 2003 IGCITA Best Male
Impersonator of the Year Award in Las Vegas and is presently performing
with Paula Erlene in the production, "An Evening with John Wayne and Patsy". He is married to Paula Erlene who accompanies
him in ;;the show. She is a multi-national
award winning female yodeler, perhaps the fastest in the world as America’s
Yodeling Sweetheart and also a tribute artist to Patsy Cline; singing also
to the tunes of many other female country-western stars.
They add all of their experiences in bringing to the
audiences exciting anecdotes about Duke with Paula singing and yodeling,
incorporating real Western history and folk lore while keeping their audience
on the edge of their seats. Their forte
lies in performing for churches, RV parks, schools and theaters, as well as
corporate and special events. Together
they have traveled far and wide.
He is an actor, author, entertainer, corporate host, emcee
and motivational speaker, as well as a look-alike and impersonator.
Ermal was raised in a “mercy home”, similar to an orphanage,
in Birmingham, Alabama when his father deserted his mother and the rest of his
family just after he was born. During
WWII, his mother remarried and sent for him in the Motor City, old Dearborn,
Michigan. Like a typical boy, he ran
away from home and joined the Marine Corps.
When he came out, he got his first job in the hot melt shop of a steel
mill for 3-1/2 years working for wages at $1.72 per hour. He made rent payments by working double
shifts as often as he could. While
hoofing it through his childhood years, mostly on his own, this inspired Ermal
to become an actor with visions of becoming another John Wayne. He put his writing on hold, wanting to
experience first hand what he was to write later down the road. He married the
former Miss Elizabeth Mary "Betty" Patterson, of Wyandotte, Michigan
and then moved his wife and two children, Elizabeth Mary and Ermal “Bill” to
Hollywood, California to break into motion pictures. To become the professional actor as he should,
he studied and performed Chekov, Shakespeare, Wilde, Williams, and more
playwrights although his heart and soul
was in doing Western films. Then one day, he performed in the lead role
in a one-act play at California State University at Los Angeles, The
Purification, using actions established by the Duke as a cowboy. “I suppose no one knew it but me.” His third child Daniel Walden was born the
year before, and he continued to work full time and attend school at night and
take some classes during the day to earn his degree. It was important to him, as no one in his
family of three brothers and three sisters ever earned a degree, let alone his
mother or dad. This Motivational Force
kept Ermal grounded as he pursued every facet of his professional life while
"home on the ranch" where he and Betty worked hard on instilling the
American Work Ethic into their Family of three children, Elizabeth Mary, Ermal
“Bill” and Daniel.
He took up more acting classes at Paramount Studios after
graduating from college with a BS Degree in drama, and found himself with Jerry
Paris, an acting coach who accepted the unbridled task of teaching him and who
later, would become a close and devoted friend.. “Just before his passing away,
Jerry told me that I would appear as a principle actor in his next film, a
third sequel to "Police Academy".
Paris made for certain that Ermal was firmly planted on the set,
constantly preparing him for his "Big Break”. However, as Fate would have it, instead,
Ermal was cast in the supporting role of Randolph Hearst in "The Patty
Hearst" movie, playing opposite Natasha Richardson.
Ermal has performed in many types of films and plays. He
appeared with Tom Hanks as his butler in Bonfires of the Vanity and has
appeared in dozens of sitcoms such as a regular principle character on “Samta
Barbara. In “The Twilight Zone”, “General Hospital”, “Superior Court”, “The
Judge”, “Evening Shade” with Burt Reynolds, “Delta”, “The Golden Girls”, as
well as movies made for TV such as “Woman Against Odds”, “Lies Before Kisses”
and “The Black Hole” as well as lesser roles in many others.
He also recently starred in Star Quest a Sci-Fi movie
opposite Burt Ward from the Batman series..
He has appeared on stage with Jean Stapleton, and Marion
Ross. On Hollywood and Vine Ermal starred in Medea at the Stardust Grill and
won rave reviews.
He wrote, directed and produced his one-man show “Memories
with John Wayne and Gary Cooper”. Ermal is the actor who is doing all those “COORS
LIGHT commercials as the Duke. Duke's
face is digitized onto Ermal’s body. Fully
utilizing his writing and acting talents, Ermal’s one-man show as the Duke is a
composition where he scored and produced the Life Story of John Wayne (from the
cradle to the grave) in entertaining anecdotes and yarns. As a raconteur, Ermal is a frequent speaker,
host and emcee at corporate events, supper clubs, seminars and
organizations. He performs as a
professional host and emcee, giving motivational speeches about the Duke’s life
and movies that encapsulate between 15 minutes to two hours in pure
entertainment. He is a well-diversified man of many talents, culminating in one
character: the Western Cowboy, beloved
by people around the world.
His life has been devoted to John Wayne in that he covers
all aspects of his impersonation of JOHN WAYNE.
He does the talk, the walk, and the nuances in all facets of his very
being on the screen. He performs as Duke
in weekly half-hour cable TV segments as the Duke in first person talking about
his life, his movies, and giving personal anecdotes. Ermal started out performing and continues to
do exceptionally well as and, as the professional impersonator, is ready at the
drop of a “Stetson” to impersonate him.
Ermal performed in Sonora, California on the location site
of “High Noon” on location sites during the annual Sonora Film Festival, on
Railroad Days in Jamestown at their famous Jamestown Railroad and High Noon sites
along the rails of Oakdale.
He is an ordained minister with a Masters Degree from the
Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in Strawberry Point, California and a
Doctor of Ministry Degree from the Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena,
California, Ermal has been the pastor of three churches in the course of
pursuing his acting career. Again, as
Fate would have it, shortly after his return to acting, Hollywood asked him to
perform as the Gary Cooper double, and then, the John Wayne look-alike. Having established himself in this rare
niche, he can honestly say that his life-long dream has come true. FIRST COWBOY
MINISTER of all time.
With an undisputed track record consisting of four degrees,
two-and-a-half years in law school, Marine Corp experience, a rough-and-tough
steelworker stint, cowboy stuntman thrilling the tour trams at Universal
Studios, expertise on the Wild West, and a John Wayne and Gary Cooper
impersonator, he has put his daily life-long experiences to work for him in all
that he does, while remaining an humble and pious man. His creative writings reflect his no bars
philosophies. Ermal does not hold back. Moreover, as an ordained minister, he still
conducts weddings as the Duke in Western or military wardrobes on location, in
a church, or aboard Duke’s famous yacht the “Wild Goose".
Ermal has written patriotic poetry as: “John Wayne,
American”, “Just a Piece of Cloth”, “America’s Kids Today”, and others that he
recites on-stage and/or on horseback. Ermal has been told throughout the years, (on more than a hundred
occasions) that he is more of the Reincarnation
and Embodiment of the Great John Wayne than an impersonator, following
in the footsteps of one of America's Great Heroes, inspiring those around him by seeking his dreams in his own
devout and dedicated way.
I tell you - his is the GREATEST PERFORMANCE OF AN
IMPERSONATION THAT I HAVE EVER SEEN. And, most of you already know that I have
been in the motion picture business ever since I was ten years old. . . . His
act is not good - IT IS GREAT. IT IS
EXCELLENT!” Ned Shaheen – Hollywood
Producer
“Saw your TV show – Great. " - A Fan. Burt Kennedy.
The late Burt Kennedy was the writer and
director of several of the best John Wayne movies.
To hone and perfect his writing ability, Ermal drew upon his
rich life-time experiences and lessons learned by being a Marine, a steel man,
a stuntman, and a man from the Deep South.
To date, he has authored seven Western novels with a single theme,
BRAZOS.” “Across The Brazos", "The Man From the Brazos",
"Call of the Brazos", "We Conquer or Die", "The Last
Bullet", "The Ghost of Ginny McBride" and “Beyond the Brazos” are
the seven books he has finished, respectively.
Ermal's goal is to carry the theme to new levels. For those who are not fluent in Spanish or
Basic Cowboy-ese, there is the River that runs some 870 miles through
Texas. It means, Arms of God" and
is spelled out in his first novel, "Across the Brazos". Legend has it that whenever a man and a woman
enter the Brazos and the River churns up, it is a glowing Good Luck Omen that
the Princess blesses the Couple with Love. Indeed, with this is the Life Story
of a Man who has met and conquered his Glowing Brazos, inspiring and
entertaining all those whom he meets and those that meet him.
For more information:
www.johnwayneshow.com
www.yodellady.com
http://www.americasyodelingsweetheart.com/
www.americasyodellingsweetheart.com
417/598-0088
