Christopher's Professional Biography
A professional entertainer, actor, announcer, and writer, Christopher Linnell is the fun-loving, ever-active proprietor of Christopher & Co. Celebrity Impersonations, through which he offers more than 200 celebrity voices and 100 fully-costumed celebrity impersonations.
While his impersonation of television detective Lt. Columbo is certainly his best known, Groucho Marx, Rodney Dangerfield, Sheriff Buford T. Justice, Senator Bob Dole, Forrest Gump, Jack Nicholson, and The Church Lady are among his best.
The nationally and internationally famous are not the only
celebrities for whom Linnell is known. His impersonations of Petaluma
newspaper columnist Bill Soberanes, (shown at left with Christopher...to
learn more about Bill visit his web site:
Peopleologist
Bill Soberanes), San Francisco radio and t.v. personality Bill Moen,
haberdasher-extraodinaire George Zimmer, and t.v. chef Martin Yan are
well-received within their respective constituencies.
The seeds of an entertainment career were sown in childhood, as Christopher dabbled in magic, ventriloquism, clowning, character voices, and puppetry (photo below right at age 10). His first on-stage performance was on Guam, where his family lived during the 1970's. Christopher performed before the assembled student body of his elementary school at age 9, doing a stand-up comedy routine with a ventriloquist dummy, and he was hooked on applause thereafter.
Christopher first began entertaining professionally as
a puppeteer. He pre-recorded the soundtracks for his shows on tape in his
bedroom using character voices and home-made sound effects, and performed
the shows at private birthday parties, schools, and convalescent homes. On
Halloween of 1974 Christopher began introducing his marionette shows as Chrisco
the Clown, a character he used for 15 years. Soon he was performing at company
Christmas parties and picnics, shopping centers, and in parades all over
Guam.
Christopher's first impressions were also done in elementary school. He impersonated Elvis Presley, Flip Wilson, Tom Jones, and a variety of other celebrities of the period to the delight of his fellow students, and the constant irritation of his teachers. But when he started impersonating his teachers, as well, he transcended the status of irritant, and eventually, and arguably, became the sweetheart of the faculty and staff.
In 1976 Christopher's junior high school
staged a talent show, and he impersonated his three favorite celebrities.
James Cagney (at left) changed a baby's dirty diaper ("Yooouuu dirty
brat!"), Edith Bunker got drunk, and Stan Laurel took a pratfall off an
eight-foot ladder right into the midst of the audience. The crowd loved it...the
Headmaster did not! However, Christopher did graduate that same year
with the honor of receiving the Headmaster's Award.
Straw Hat Pizza in Tamuning on Guam was Christopher's first public venue as a stand-up comic and impersonator. The restaurant featured a live pianist and banjoist who coaxed the crowd to sing-along with lyrics projected on a large screen.
The Linnell family made this a regular Saturday night activity, and the two Straw Hat entertainers became intriqued by their most enthusiastic fan. They invited him onto the stage one night, and were treated to a Cagney/Bunker/Laurel spiel that wowed the audience and envigorated the young Christopher with enough self-confidence to make him unbearably obnoxious off-stage, and undeniably engaging on-stage for years to come.
As his family prepared to return stateside, Christopher participated in an island-wide talent competition in the downtown Paseo of capital city Agana, taking second place, and earning a job offer from the Guamanian "Don Ho", Jimmy Dee (Jimmy Dee Enterprises of Guam), who wanted Christopher to be his opening act. It was an opportunity of which he was regretfully unable to take advantage, as Petaluma, California, became his new home. But even more exciting opportunities awaited there.
The Victorian riverfront town of Petaluma had a population one-seventh the size of Guam's, and smaller ponds are easier to conquer for growing frogs. Christopher took his stand-up impersonation act to the other side of town for a talent show. Fortunately, the two masters of ceremonies were disc jockeys at the local community radio station, KTOB 1490AM.
He was just a high school sophomore, but for a radio station
paying minimum wage to part-time weekenders, Christopher was the perfect
apprentice. He began as the host of KTOB's Sunday morning religious programs,
and eventually worked a variety of airshifts, including weekday evenings
and mid-days. In addition to work as an on-air personality, and announcing
news, Christopher developed writing and production skills that he would use
for years to come.
In 1981 Christopher went to work for radio station KSRO 1350AM in Santa Rosa (pictured at right), and he spent five years there working as an on-air personality, commerical writer, announcer, and producer, and, eventually, and finally, as an account executive.
Christopher later went on to do contract commercial production on Sonoma County radio stations KREO, KZST, KPLS, KVRE, KMGG, and KRPQ. He also worked as an air personality and news anchor for both KMGG and KRPQ in 1996.
In the 1980s, Linnell also worked as an air personality for television station KFTY TV 50, doing numerous live remote broadcasts and commercials. He was also a regular cast performer doing improv and sketch comedy on TV50's late-night comedy and music showcase program called "On The Air", which was broadcast from a cable-FM radio station / restaurant / nightclub combination in downtown Santa Rosa known as the Studio KAFE. Along the same lines, in the 1990s, Linnell's celebrity impersonations have become familiar faces on the San Francisco late-night television music and comedy showcase broadcast on KOFY TV20 and known as "Late Sunday Night with James Gabbert".
For the most part, however, since 1983, Linnell
has been self-employed full-time as an entertainer. His
performing venues have included Microsoft headquarters in Seattle costumed
as an eight-and-a-half-foot-tall blue genie; Franklin
D. Roosevelt's presidential yacht, the U.S.S Potomac, inpersonating the
President, himself (picture in the radio room at left); BART commuter
trains throughout the Bay Area in a BART promotion impersonating Groucho
Marx; San Francisco record stores for Cema Distribution doing singing
impersonations of Frank Sinatra to promote the singer's "Duets" and "Duets
II" albums; dozens of fairs throughout California and Nevada offering his
150 celebrity voices on request; and colleges, parking lots, grocery stores
and sporting events on the 12-state upper-midwest region Fruitopia Fruit
Beverage promotional tour sponsored by Coca-Cola Minute Maid in the summer
of 1994 (photo below right pictures, L-R, plunger juggler "Professor" Elliott
Cutler, Christopher, magician Jaye Alexander, and African drummer Eli Honai).
Linnell splits his time between his corporate
and private clients. One day he'll be doing Elvis at a private birthday party
in Penngrove, and the next he'll be flying to a corporate sales meeting in
Chicago to provide walkaround impersonations, stiltwalking, audio and video
presentations, scripting, and consultation services.
In 1987 Linnell secured the representation of San Francisco agent Joan Spangler of LOOK Talent, and began working in industrial films and television and radio commercials regionally and nationally as a member of SAG and AFTRA. He has been featured in national television commercials for MCI, Roy Rogers Family Restaurants, Pontiac, Home Express, and Aerial cellular phones.
To date, Linnell has performed in dozens of television shows, scores of television commercials, hundreds of radio commercials, and thousands of live performances of improv-comedy in 14 of the United States and the beautiful island territory of Guam.
Christopher lives in the beautiful Victorian riverfront town of Petaluma in Sonoma County (north of Marin and San Francisco and west of Napa). He lives with his faithful old canine companion, Cuthbert, the cocker, and three beloved old cats: Tillie, Gus, and Claiborne. In his free time Christopher enjoys writing, photography, reading history, political debate, old movies on AMC, old sitcoms in Nick at Nite's TV Land, tennis, golf, hiking, biking, skating, canoeing, swimming, and, most of all, spending sunny afternoons in secluded woods and near picturesque bodies of water, oblivious to the rest of the world.
Christopher's Page-Footer LIBRARY
The underlined heading below are links to more information...those that appear in BLACK are under construction, will be links soon, and currently designate information available to you right now by mail or fax...(as are all headings):
Home * 45 Star Picture Postcard * Photo Gallery * Biography * Testimonials
Client List * Hall of Fame * Best Walkaround Stars * Best Celebrity Voices
Company Parties * Christopher's Corporate Comedy * Private Parties
Game Shows * Stage Acts * Stiltwalking * Theme Parties * Holiday Programs
President F.D. Roosevelt and the U.S.S. Potomac * New Stars!
Fairs & Festivals * Links to Christopher's Colleagues & Clients
Online Questionnaire & Performance Order
Christopher Linnell
Christopher & Co. Celebrity Impersonations
POB 2927 Petaluma CA 94953-2927
707-762-2596
All content, graphics, and images contained throughout are
Copyright 2003 by Christopher D. Linnell
and are protected by United States and International copyright laws.
No text, graphic, or image may be used, in whole or in part, individually,
or as part of a derivative work, without express written permission.