Dave Hinton: Ex-Farmer City resident loves his role as Colonel Sanders

Jun. 24—Johnny Miller was sitting in a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in Yuma, Ariz., when a vacationing couple from Canada walked up to him.

"Let me get your autograph, eh?"

"I'm thinking to myself, 'Why?'" Miller remembers.

Two weeks later, the same scenario: A couple from Canada wanted his autograph.

It dawned on Miller. They thought he was Harland Sanders, founder of the international chicken chain.

"I finished my dinner, walked into the men's room, looked at myself and said, 'I can make this happen.' That's when I decided to invest in looking like Col. Sanders."

The former Farmer City resident had no idea KFC employed what they call "ambassadors" to portray the colonel, who died in 1980.

Matching Sanders' attire wasn't easy.

"You don't just walk into Walmart and buy a double-breasted white suit," Miller said. "I got on the internet and found a men's Vietnamese clothier in New York City. I had it tailored. I got me a French cuff shirt, cuff links. The glasses were $350."

He got his hair styled to look like the colonel's.

"I even researched the lapel pins he wore. I matched everything."

Miller watched YouTube commercials of Sanders to learn how he spoke.

Three months later, it was time to see if he could pull it off. He walked into the same Yuma KFC.

"I walked in like the boss," Miller said. "I had that same boss attitude and that stride in my step and walked up to the counter and said, 'Snap, snap; I'm hungry.'

"These people knew me as Johnny Miller. When I walked in as Col. Sanders, they had no idea who I was."

The staff started to panic. No one had told them Col. Sanders was going to be visiting that day: "How come Louisville (KFC headquarters) didn't call and tell us you were coming?"

The restaurant, seating capacity of 206, was nearly full with customers, and nearly everyone there wanted the colonel's autograph. Soon, the restaurant owner drove up and asked him why Louisville hadn't told them he was coming.

Miller finally explained he was impersonating the colonel. The owner offered Miller a part-time job around the Yuma area publicizing his restaurants.

When the Yuma Sun did a story on him, which was picked up by the Associated Press, "I realized this could be something big," Miller said. "I found an acting agent in Las Vegas who specializes in impersonators and look-a-likes."

It led to KFC corporate hiring Miller in 2010 to serve as an ambassador. Miller is one of two KFC ambassadors — the other, C.J. Sizemore, ironically lives in Champaign.

Miller, who now lives in Sanders' former hometown of Corbin, Ky., loves his gig of impersonating the man who founded the famous chicken chain. He doesn't plan to retire any time soon.

"I'm having a great time.

"I've been all around the world, to five continents. If you stand in front of The Sphinx (in Egypt), and you look across the street, there's a Kentucky Fried Chicken."

The only continents Miller hasn't been to are Antarctica and South America.

"I've had three requests to go to Quito, Ecuador. KFC says 'no' because of the political climate, the kidnappings," Miller said. "They can't guarantee my safety."

Miller has done several KFC television commercials domestically and overseas.

He said KFC treats him right, booking him at five-star restaurants and hotels and assigning him bodyguards and a limo.

"It's to give the impression that KFC Yum brands is doing good," he said of the royal treatment. "If the colonel is flying first class, it says they're selling a lot of chicken."

Life before the colonel

After high school, Miller served in the Air Force, working in radar for Aerospace Defense Command during the Cold War. Little did he know that that work would expose him to some life-threatening health issues from which he still suffers.

He later became a certified LP gas service technician, working in that industry for 31 years.

A tenor in a barbershop quartet, Miller is a member of the Barbershop Harmony Society. He is also a member of the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans and Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels.

His twin sister, Bonnie, lives in Champaign-Urbana.

Miller plans to attend the Aug. 5 reunion of the Farmer City-Mansfield Class of 1973 at the Farmer City American Legion.

Champaign's Sizemore also represents KFC

What are the odds that the two men contracted by KFC's corporate office to serve as ambassadors (Col. Sanders impersonators) both hail from central Illinois, both serving since 2010?

Eighty-five-year-old C.J. Sizemore lives in Champaign, and the 68-year-old Johnny Miller originally lived in Clinton and then Farmer City.

"We actually were doing it for several years before we met," Sizemore said of Miller. "He has a twin sister here in Champaign, and he came to visit her. We had been corresponding for quite some time, so we got together and spent about four hours visiting."

Like Miller, Sizemore makes appearances all over the world for KFC.

"In China they were calling me the chicken man," Sizemore said.

Like Miller, Sizemore began portraying Sanders on his own. After several years, KFC corporate asked Sizemore if he would like to contract with them as an ambassador.

Sizemore said he loves portraying the colonel and wants to keep doing it "probably until I kick off."

Sizemore met the real Col. Sanders at a convention in Louisville, Ky., in 1964. That was back before Sizemore bore a strong resemblance to Sanders.

"Like everybody else I had my little Brownie Hawkeye (camera) and shook hands with him," Sizemore said.

Sizemore said he has met a number of celebrities in his job, from journalist Harry Smith of "Good Morning America" to Vanilla Ice, Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul.

He has represented KFC three times at the Kentucky Derby as well as the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade in New York City, and the Bluegrass Ball for the inaugural for former President Donald Trump.

"I joked that the biggest celebrity I met was the AFLAC duck" after Sizemore rang the closing bell for the New York Stock Exchange.

Rantoul officers recognized

The Rantoul Police Department recently recognized three officers for their life-saving efforts.

Officer Alex Carbajal was lauded for saving a student who was choking in April at prom.

He performed the Heimlich maneuver, which dislodged the food.

Officers Kyle Gretz and Tyler Johnson were recognized for performing CPR on an individual who went into cardiac arrest. The person survived because of their efforts.

Savoy recognizes newest firefighters

The Savoy Fire Department recently recognized its five newest firefighters.

The members completed their probationary period and all requirements to be promoted to the rank of firefighter.

They were officially sworn in at a meeting of the Savoy Village Board.

The firefighters included Travis Bowers, Abigail Fryer, Bryden Francoeur, Herschel Gilbert and Nick Walker.

Union apprentices become journeymen

Nearly 50 East Central Illinois residents recently graduated from their union apprentice training programs, earning the title of journeymen.

Each took part in multiple years of training, both in the classroom and on the job, allowing them to be promoted to earn both higher pay and more responsibilities at work.

Members of UA Local 149 Plumbers and Pipefitters, IBEW 601 Electricians and SMART Local 218 Sheetmetal Workers were honored during ceremonies hosted by the East Central Illinois Building and Construction Trades Council at the I Hotel.

Each of the next three weeks, The News-Gazette will feature one of the graduating groups.

Graduating from UA Local 149 were Levi Davis, Jesse Mitsdarffer, Seth Chitwood, Todd Braden, Joshua Baker, Jason Antrim, Keaten Kalk, Kyle Brown, Jonathan Buening, Matthew Hamer, Cameron Faulkner, Ryan Brandenburg, Curtis Johnson, Dustin Niles and Daniel Wiggs.