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By Sally J. Ling 
When John Allen shows up at a local eatery women swoon. When
he's in Las Vegas foreigners mob him for photos and autographs. And why all
this attention?This Delray Beach is a dead ringer for the well known
Scottish actor. At 57 Allen has become a leading impersonator of the actor
at corporite and private parties, in commercials and even used as Connery's
stand-in major motion pictures. To honor his achievements The International
Guild of Celebrity Impersonators and Tribute Artists presented Mr.. Allen
with The "Cloney Award" for the second year in a row, for Best
Impersonation of a Legend. Allen's rise to impersonation stardom began when
he was "discovered " by local talent scout, Paul Levine who owns Famous
Faces Entertainment, a Fort Lauderdale booking agency of celebrity
impersonators. "About eight years ago I was having dinner at a restaurant
in Boca Raton's Misner Park when a man approached, looked curiously at me and
said "I can make you a lot of money as James Bond, I want you to beat up a guy
and throw him into Donald Trump's swimming pool". I told him,"I can do
that". And I did Allen Recalled. Since then Allen has donned Connery's
signature white tuxedo, complete with red carnation, at hundreds of James Bond
theme parties, corporate events, fundraisers and special evenings many times
accompanied by the Bond Girls. "I didn't look like Sean Connery when I was
younger. It wasn't until I was 49 and grew a gray beard that it happened. It
was a gradual transformation. Then the work started coming, and the phone
hasn't stopped ringing. "I'm booked solid" Allen declares. One of Allen's
most moving experiences portraying James Bond came when Allen was in Las
Vegas. "This girl came up to me, and she was trembling. She told me," You
are my favorite actor in the world. This is the nicest thing that's happened
to me in months. I just got out of the hospital for cancer", Allen recalls "I
didn't have the heart to tell her differently". Soon, however, Allen will be
kept busy with his latest project-impersonating Sean Connery in "Atomic
City" a new TV series filming in Las Vegas. Also starring in the series are
Elvis and Pam Anderson impersonators. Allen will portray Connery as a evil
scientist who hypnotizes women to get information from world leaders-all so
he can achieve global domination. John Allen's website with videos, photos
and resume is http://www.johnallen007.com
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