Jerry Haleva boasted an uncanny resemblance to Saddam Hussein, a mixed blessing which he parlayed into a minor career playing the Iraqi dictator in such films as Hot Shots! and Hot Shots! Part Deux.

One night, Haleva visited the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. "The Russian immigrant cabby who took me over there was laughing with another cabby when I got back," the actor recalled. "And when I got in the cab, he said, 'I'm very sorry for laughing, sir, but my friend and I both agree you look like someone not very nice.'"

Haleva laughed and a brief conversation followed -- during which it became apparent that the cabbies had in fact mistaken Haleva for the Russian dictator Joseph Stalin.

[Haleva once attended a conference in Stockton: "The Capitol Steps were one of the groups performing there, and they asked me to fill in as Saddam for a bit where they sing 'Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iraq' to the tune of 'Barbara Ann.' After the Capitol Steps, the keynote speaker was Shimon Peres, and a friend of mine brought me over to say hello to him. So I did a picture with Shimon Peres, and sent that out as a greeting card for our lobbying firm, with a note: 'If we can make this happen we can make anything happen.'"]