Impersonator finds real exposure on TV

When Julie Grayson was a wee 4-year-old, her parents signed her up for dance lessons.

"I was hyper and they thought it would calm me down," she explains. "It didn't help -- but it did give me a career."

That pursuit -- a dance career that spanned 13 years -- has recently evolved into a second calling as an impersonator/actress for Grayson, who appears in tonight's airing of the classical composition "Mavis in Las Vegas" on PBS.

The 31-year-old Missouri native was lured out to Las Vegas at age 18 back in 1985, earning $100 per week in her first job dancing at the Union Plaza. Soon, she moved on to perform in shows such as "Legends in Concert" and "Splash," tap-dancing next to Sammy Davis Jr. and Jerry Lewis at Bally's and performing overseas in Russia.

She returned to "Legends" in 1991, moving up to serve as line captain, supplementing her dancing career with acting spots in campy B-movies and TV commercials, and her education with psychology courses at UNLV.

It was while at "Legends" that she met her husband, Glenn Grayson, 42, the musical supervisor for Siegfried & Roy, who came backstage to visit his friend, a Beatles impersonator. The two married in 1994; their son Brandon, 2, came along the following year.

Once her knees went and her son came, Grayson was content to give up dancing permanently and move on to a second career as a Marilyn Monroe impersonator at corporate functions. "It's the perfect job," enthuses Grayson, who, when she tilts her head back, narrows her eyes and breaths up her voice, transforms herself into a near semblance of the matinee sex idol. "I can get dressed and go do my gig and be back to put (her son) to bed."

Of course, the job does have its drawbacks -- such as the men who try to feel her foam-padded figure, the expensive investment in costuming and the competing Marilyn impersonators encroaching on her territory.

But, it was the role that led her to the "Mavis in Las Vegas" special -- and she hopes, on to bigger and better things. "I'd love it if a whole 'Mavis' series would spin off," she says, giggling. "Maybe 'Mavis in Paris'? "

Oui, oui, Julie.

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