LAWRENCEBURG, Ky. - Former Mayor Bob Thompson is having fun in his new role: He's the spittin' image of Col. Harland Sanders.

Former Lawrenceburg Mayor Bob Thompson, "Col. Harland Sanders" (Associated Press photo) | ZOOM |

        The 73-year-old IBM retiree has stepped in at KFC events marking the 50th birthday of the restaurant franchise to portray the late founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken.

        “The thing I like about doing this is that I get to pretty much be myself, which is what I would do anyway,” Mr. Thompson said.

        With his white suit, black cane, white wavy hair and neatly trimmed goatee, Mr. Thompson has taken first place at several Colonel-look-alike contests held in London, which is near Corbin — where Col. Sanders first served his famous original recipe chicken.

        Col. Sanders died at age 90 in 1980, but his folksy image is so enduring and popular that many people don't seem to know that.

        “They ask me "Are you the real Colonel?' ” Mr. Thompson said. “I tell 'em, "I just got out of Cave Hill Cemetery' (Col. Sanders' burial place in Louisville). Before I let 'em get away, I tell 'em the truth.”

        Mr. Thompson, who was mayor of Lawrenceburg from 1994 through 1998, is one of two look-alikes KFC calls on. The other lives in Alabama.

        During a June trip to New York City, Mr. Thompson appeared on CBS' The Early Show and went to a Mets game to promote the company's 50th birthday. He also traveled to Los Angeles for a promotional event.

        At such events, he greets children, signs autographs (using his name, not the Colonel's) and generally acts like the grandfather of three that he is in real life.

        Mr. Thompson's wife of 52 years, Volita, said being married to a look-alike can be frustrating, too.

        “Sometimes when you go in a restaurant, you don't get to eat because people will say "Let me run to the car and get my camera,' ” Mrs. Thompson said. “And all the waitresses, they've got to have a picture made with him. I don't know. Sometimes it gets aggravating.”
       

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