Louis Ortiz once dreamed about having plastic surgery. His ears stuck out, and he wanted to get them fixed.
He’s glad he didn’t.
A former Verizon worker from the Bronx, Ortiz has parlayed an eerie likeness to Barack Obama into a lucrative career traveling around the world as a presidential impersonator.
Ortiz, 43, counts his blessings — although even he admits it’s sometimes just a little too strange.
PEARL GABEL/NEW YORK DAILY NEWSLouis Ortiz works an average of two to three times a week as a Barack Obama impersonator.
“I look at myself a lot in the mirror, and I start speaking like Barack,” he says. “It’s like Barack is speaking through me, to me. . . . It’s weird.”
Ortiz, who bills himself as Bronx Obama, works an average of two or three times a week as the President. His bookings, arranged through an agency, include parties and corporate conferences, an occasional television ad overseas — and even appearing as an unannounced guest at weddings.
“Real big Obama fans want me to come and say a surprise speech for the bride and groom,” he explained in an interview with the Daily News, sandwiched between trips to Norway and Poland. “It’s entertainment while everyone’s all liquored up.”
PEARL GABEL/NEW YORK DAILY NEWSThe presidential impersonator once dreamed about having plastic surgery.
He’s a strange barometer of President Obama’s popularity.
When Obama’s approval numbers are high, Ortiz lands more gigs and when the President's popularity sinks, Ortiz feels the pain.
Put another way, the killing of Osama Bin Laden was good for business. The fight over Obamacare, not so much.
In 2013, Ortiz made about $60,000, he says, which was down from 2012.
PEARL GABEL/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Louis Ortiz seen before his "Barack Obama" transformation.
PEARL GABEL/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Louis Ortiz poses as Barack Obama after putting on makeup and a suit.
A spike in business may be on the horizon, however.
A documentary on Ortiz, “Bronx Obama,” by filmmaker Ryan Murdock, goes live for sale on iTunes, Vimeo and Amazon on Tuesday, and airs on Showtime at the end of the month.
Born in Manhattan, Ortiz grew up at 172nd St. and Commonwealth Ave. in the Bronx, and has two kids, a daughter, 19, and a son 14.
An Army veteran, Ortiz worked for the phone company for 13 years as a field technician. He was out of work in 2008 when people kept telling him, “You know who you look like?” And so his new life as an Obama Doppelganger was born.
PEARL GABEL/NEW YORK DAILY NEWSTo make the impersonation more believable, Ortiz covers his face with primer, followed by concealer, foundation, powder, a bit of lipstick to darken his mouth, and a spot of eyeliner to re-create Obama’s mole.
Ortiz relies on more than his standout ears to be an Obama double. Extensive makeup completes the transition.
Ortiz, who’s Puerto Rican by heritage, covers his face with primer, followed by concealer, foundation, powder, a bit of lipstick to darken his mouth, and a spot of eyeliner to re-create Obama’s mole.
He puts on a black suit and a crisp white shirt with American flag cuff links, a dark suit, a preknotted red tie and, yes, a flag lapel pin. He’s able to mimic Obama’s gestures, grin and voice.
PEARL GABEL/NEW YORK DAILY NEWSLouis Ortiz occasionally messes with people into thinking he's Barack Obama.
But it’s the visual likeness that’s the most stunning, which was made clear when Ortiz — in his Obama suit and makeup — walked with a Daily News reporter and Murdock in lower Manhattan one day last week.
Immediately, a tourist’s eyes strayed from a map and opened wide. Car windows slid down. A young woman reported on her cell phone, “I just saw a pseudo-Barack Obama!”
“It’s amazing. . . . Every gesture — the way he moves, the way his hair’s cut, his ears, the smile,” Herby Aristide, 33, a bus-tour guide from Brooklyn, said as he snapped photos for his Facebook page. “Guy looks like Obama. Wow!”
PEARL GABEL/NEW YORK DAILY NEWSPeople crowd around Ortiz for photos outside the Bowling Green station.
Outside the Bowling Green subway station, so many people crowded around for pictures, Murdock implored them to form a line — and they did. Visitors from China and Italy rushed over. People brought their children.
He’s a hit. And it’s obvious Ortiz enjoys it, too.
Yes, Ortiz does mess with people on occasion — a favorite trick is to stroll into a restaurant, glance around and walk out, leaving customers boggled. And it does get scary sometimes — he once was accosted by a homeless guy who “recognized” him in Toronto.
PEARL GABEL/NEW YORK DAILY NEWSLouis Ortiz is a hit with the crowd and he enjoys it too.
That’s why even though Obama can see retirement in 2017, Ortiz thinks he will still be handing out his business cards, which feature him posing as the President on the front and say, “HIRE ME NOW” on the back.
“He’s the first African-American President. He’s going to be around for a long time. He’s history,” Ortiz said confidently. “Hence, I’m going to be around for a long time.
Adopted from NYdailynews.
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