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Jerry Haleva

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Actor

The Resume

    (May 26, 1946- )
    Appeared in the films ‘Hot Shots!’ (1991), ‘Hot Shots! Part Deux’ (1993), ‘The Big Lebowski’ (1998), ‘Jane Austen’s Mafia!’ (1998), ‘The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest’ (2002), and ‘Live from Baghdad’ (TV movie, 2002)

Why he might be annoying:

    In all his film appearances, he portrayed Saddam Hussein.
    He also portrayed Hussein in a series of commercials for Nintendo.
    In the credits of ‘Hot Shots!’ his name was misspelled ‘Halera.’
    After the 2003 invasion of Iraq, he announced his retirement, saying imitating Hussein was no longer funny.
    A year later, with Hussein captured by US forces, he said he was interested in returning to work as the ex-dictator’s double. Judging from this profile’s credentials section, nobody else was particularly interested.

Why he might not be annoying:

    Before his niche acting career, he worked as a lobbyist and as chief of staff for California State Senator William Campbell.
    One of his colleagues distributed a picture of Hussein among their coworkers with the caption, ‘Now we know what Haleva does on his weekends.’ (1989)
    He was used for a visual gag with no dialogue in ‘Hot Shots!’ but his part was expanded in the sequel after he auditioned and proved he could deliver laugh lines.
    He said, ‘Only in America could a nice Sephardic boy get paid to make fun of Saddam.’

Credit: C. Fishel


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Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying