In The Event That...

You Are a Master of Disguise

by Molly Eichel

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Published: Jul 22, 2008

Jim KnoblauchTue., July 29, 6 p.m., free, Robin's Bookstore, 108 S. 13th St., 215-735-9600, robinsbookstore.com

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Supergirl runs a theater company, Marilyn Monroe has a cable show and Michael Myers lives with his mother.

So goes the life of a Hollywood Boulevard imposter — a person who dresses up as a celebrity or fictional character for tourists to gawk at, grope and take the occasional souvenir photograph. Jim Knoblauch captures them in his book Imposters, interviewing and taking pictures of the faux famous in their natural habitats but always in character. The Temple grad thought of the idea while living right off the famed boulevard.

Some imposters are more successful than others — like Superman, who has the clean-cut Christopher Reeve look down pat, or Mae West, with her come-up-and-see-me-sometime pout. But the most interesting part of the book is its between-the-lines comment on our culture's obsession with celebrity — that an entire industry is built around carbon copies of the already-famous. "A lot of them want to be celebrities — they want to be recognized," says Knoblauch. "They're well aware of the Hollywood dream machine."

Knoblauch experienced the imposter lifestyle himself, donning a Sylvester the Cat outfit and heading out on his own to make some quick cash. He found it's not as easy as it looks. "You have to be an outgoing person and most people look at you like you're crazy," Knoblauch says. "I had one experience that really set it up. It was hot in August and I'm walking down to the boulevard. Someone yelled out of a car, 'I tawt I taw a puddy cat.' That was in my first five minutes."

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