by Jennifer Marino
Gearity formerly of Rockville Centre has been making a living for the past year as an Anna Nicole Smith impersonator. On Thursday, Feb. 6 she will appear as a contestant on Hollywood Squares for celebrity impersonator week. The former dental hygienist had heard she looked like Anna Nicole since the early 1990s when Anna was a Guess? jeans model and the Playboy Playmate of the Year in 1993.
It was only recently when "The Anna Nicole Show," a reality show that follows the blond bombshell, premiered that Gearity decided to work as an impersonator full-time. She has made many appearances thanks to her many agents and the website CelebrityImpersonators.com.
"Some days I look in the mirror and it's weird," said Gearity of her likeness to Anna Nicole.
Despite spending much of her time on her new career in Los Angeles, Gearity still considers Rockville Centre to be her hometown. It's where she grew up, attending Oceanside schools, and it's where her church is. Her family still lives and works in the area.
When Gearity arrived late and still in curlers to 103.5 WKTU's Anna Nicole look-a-like contest, there was a media frenzy as the radio station thanked her profusely for showing up. Then Gearity got a cell phone call from her friend who was parking the car. "I heard on the radio, the real Anna Nicole is here!" she said. Gearity had to explain to both the radio station and her friend that she was not the actual starlet. After hearing this, the other contestants left and Gearity won.
The resemblance is startling and even more so once Gearity opens her mouth. There is no laid-back Southern drawl. She is straight-forward, funny and down-to-earth, but even in sweat pants and a t-shirt Gearity definitely stands out at the local Starbucks. Staff and patrons do a double take as she sips her coffee and pulls her cell phone from a purse printed with photos of Marilyn Monroe.
She has even fooled a cameraman from Anna Nicole's show. It's almost disorienting that Gearity looks so much like Anna Nicole, but acts almost nothing like her. Unlike Anna, Gearity said she is friends with Bobby Trendy, who had a part in Anna's show as her decorator before a falling out.
While on the job, Gearity imitates Anna's voice and mannerisms. Plus, she wears high heels in order to bring her 5'7" height closer to Anna's 5'11". Originally, Gearity gained weight to impersonate Anna, and now that Anna has lost weight, she is losing it too. Her hair is lightened to match Anna's platinum 'do and she often wears tips for Anna's trademark red nails.
When people approach her for autographs, Gearity hands them her business card and explains that she is an impersonator. She said it is sometimes hard to look so much like someone that is often made fun of. Gearity has met the real Anna and calls her "nice" and "sweet."
Gearity herself admits to having a little bit of Anna's absent-minded ways. She also has an assistant, like Anna Nicole, but Gearity's assistant is her cousin. They also have the same dog. Anna has a black poodle-mix named Sugar Pie, while Gearity has a black poodle-mix named Raisinette.
There is one other similarity between the two. Gearity is "single, 32 and looking," and Anna's love life was a feature story line of the first season of the show. Gearity finds it hard to date since she is always traveling.
Her family is supportive of her new career. "My mother thinks it's hysterical," she said. "I have the best family." She added that besides her cousin working as her assistant, her uncle helps with her website, www.annanicoledouble.com, and her brother's girlfriend helps take care her pets while she's traveling.
Gearity has been able to do a lot of fun and interesting things as an impersonator, such as staying at the Palms hotel in Las Vegas and driving up the California coast in a limo. She has also met celebrities such as Demi Moore, Arsenio Hall and Christina Aguilera. While at the Palms she sang karaoke with a Snoop Dogg look-a-like. Gearity said she would have never tried to sing before, but in the Anna Nicole persona she was able to do it. "Who ever knew?" she said a little dumbfounded by her own situation.
What really makes it worth it for Gearity is the charity work she's been able to do. She has helped collect Toys for Tots and served Thanksgiving dinner at a soup kitchen in Florida. "I'd do it every day," she said of volunteering.
Professionally, Gearity has filmed a pilot for Fox, and has projects in the works with A&E and a Manhattan nightclub. She hopes to be a part of the Anna Nicole movie and might someday write a book about her experiences.
When asked where she sees herself in five years, Gearity said she hopes to have a normal life. She wants to have met that special somebody and to have some money from her years as Anna Nicole, "to make this blond hair and red nails worth it."
