Born in Philadelphia in 1938, American actor, singer, and performer Jim Bailey became famous in the late 1960s and 1970s for his impersonations of major female stars of the day, such as Judy Garland, Phyllis Diller, Barbra Streisand, and Peggy Lee. Bailey, who referred to himself as a “character actor who sings” or “illusionist,” was a trained operatic tenor who had an uncanny ability to not only recreate the voices and manner of the figure he portrayed, but channel them as well.

Bailey was perhaps best known for his portrayal of Judy Garland, with whom he became friends after moving to Los Angeles in 1968 (she saw him perform as Garland and jumped up on stage to sing “Bye Bye Blackbird” with him), and who gave him tips on how to channel her personality into his performances. When Bailey appeared as Garland to perform “The Man That Got Away” on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1970, the year after Garland’s death in 1969, he was able to channel her so closely that some viewers reportedly thought it was a repeat broadcast.

The Ed Sullivan Show performance and other appearances made Bailey an overnight sensation, with Las Vegas bookings and an international career. In 1973, Bailey and Garland’s daughter Liza Minnelli teamed up for a series of successful concerts recreating performances by Minnelli and Garland. Subsequent career highlights included performances at Super Bowl XII as Barbra Streisand and as himself and performing at the 1984 Winter Olympics opening ceremony. He continued performing well into the 1990s and 2000s.

Bailey performed as Garland in 2009 for the 40th anniversary of her concerts in the city; the London Times remarked, “There is nothing camp or stagey about his act—it can scarcely even be described as an act, for Bailey inhabits Garland’s persona to such an extent that well, there she is.” He passed away in 2015 at the age of 77, due to complications from pneumonia.