Boulder
resident Don Wrege has been haunted by the spirit of heavy metal star Ozzy
Osbourne for the past two years ó and now it's paying off. Wrege, 48,
said people had commented on his resemblance to Osbourne, the former Black
Sabbath leader, but that the comments increased by a lot when MTV's "The
Osbournes" ó a reality show about the rocker and his family ó debuted in
March.
On Wednesday morning, the whole country will get a chance to see
if it agrees, as Wrege appears on the syndicated talk show "Regis and Kelly
Live" as part of a celebrity look-alike segment the show runs every year.
Wrege, director of operations for Boulder Web design company NewGuard
LLC, said he's excited ó and a bit embarrassed ó by the recognition but
said it's nothing new.
"I look in the mirror and I see me, but when I
put my hair down and put on the sunglasses, everything changes," Wrege
says. "It used to be sporadic ó people would notice me at Rockies games,
but now, thanks to the show, even at Kinetics, I had at least four people
yell, 'Hey, Ozzy!' And the hardcore Ozzy fans are kind of scary. ... I
always think they're going to hurt me."
As a joke, Wrege decided to
dress up as the mumbling performer last month ó complete with black
fingernail polish ó and have a friend, Golden photographer Povy Kendall
Atchison, shoot pictures for Wrege's own tongue-in-cheek Web site,
www.ozzylookalike.com.
"I've known Don for 10 years, and he's always
been a little bit odd," Atchison said. "And he's always looked like Ozzy,
but really started getting into it when the show came out. I kept pushing
him to take pictures ó and we finally agreed to do it, as long as he made
his eggplant parmigiana."
Soon afterward, Wrege was contacted by Elyse
Del Francia, a celebrity look-alike agent who suggested he attend the
Second Annual Celebrity Imposter Convention, held last week in Las Vegas.
"The only reason I went out there was that I hoped I'd be able to sleep
with a Sandra Bullock look-alike, but Cyndi Lauper was about the closest
chance I got," Wrege said. "The whole convention was a goof. Going to Las
Vegas is weird enough, but imagine doing it dressed as Ozzy Osbourne ó I
managed to walk my way into the VIP door at the House of Blues and even got
invited on stage."
On June 24, Wrege was contacted by the producers of
"Regis and Kelly Live" and asked to appear on the show Wednesday morning
with another amateur who looks like Osbourne's daughter.
"The lady
called me and said they already had a Kelly Osbourne look-alike. And they
want me to stay in character all the time, so I've taped all of the
episodes of 'The Osbournes' and have been watching them over and over. I've
also been learning to put on black eyeliner, but it's hard ó none of the
women I know in Boulder can give me any makeup advice."
Wednesday's
episode airs at 9 a.m. on KWGN-Channel 2.
