Jerry Haleva

Jerome Michael Haleva (born May 1946) is an American actor and political lobbyist. He gained fame as an actor as a doppelgänger of Saddam Hussein due to his physical resemblance to the late Iraqi leader, with all of his film roles having him portraying Hussein.

Biography Jerry Haleva, a Sephardic Jew whose grandparents were from Turkey, is a member of the Republican Party and has worked as a lobbyist for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, among others. In 1973, he was an adviser to a legislative committee investigating prison conditions in California. He served in the California Senate in 1977 as chief of staff for William Campbell. Haleva was nicknamed the "41st Senator" for "his aggressive style and legislative adroitness". Haleva was thrice noted by the Fair Political Practices Commission for potential mishandling of funds.

In 1989, a colleague of Haleva distributed a photo of the then-Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein among his co-workers with the text "Now we know what Haleva does on his weekends". A few years later, Haleva contacted Ron Smith, who represented doppelgängers in the film industry, and Smith had a small role for Haleva in the feature film Hot Shots! (1991), followed by a more prominent role in its sequel, Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993). Haleva played Hussein in half a dozen films. Besides the Hot Shots! movies and The Big Lebowski, he appeared in a few other films and also appeared in commercials (including for Nintendo). In January 2004 he came back to this decision and said in an interview that he was interested in continuing his acting career.

As of 2016, he was a contract lobbyist (Sergeant Major Associates) and lived in Sacramento, California.

Filmography Year Film Role Notes 1991 Hot Shots! Saddam Hussein 1993 Hot Shots! Part Deux Saddam Hussein 1998 The Big Lebowski Saddam Jane Austen's Mafia! Saddam Hussein 2002 The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest Hologram Saddam Live from Baghdad Saddam Hussein Television Film