Charlie the Tuna Creator Tom Rogers Dies
Tom Rogers, 87, a retired advertising copywriter whose beret- and sunglasses-wearing hipster tuna became an icon of pop culture, died June 24 in Charlottesville, where he lived with his son's family. He drowned while swimming alone in the family's backyard pool.
Charlie the Tuna was the likably obtuse deep-sea striver who never lived up to the taste standards of Starkist Tuna. ("Sorry, Charlie. Starkist wants tuna that tastes good, not tuna with good taste.") The character was based on an acquaintance of Mr. Rogers's who was an habitue of the beat scene in 1950s New York City, said his son, Lance Rogers. A beat musician and part-time actor who called himself Henry Nemo, the man personified one of Mr. Rogers's favorite aphorisms: "The straightest distance between two points is an angle."
Mr. Rogers had a hand in creating other memorable ad mascots of the 1960s and '70s, the cookie-baking Keebler elves and the finicky feline in the 9 Lives cat food ads, Morris the Cat. He didn't originate the characters, his son said, but he infused them with distinctive personalities based on a lifetime of observing human nature as a screenwriter, aspiring novelist and copywriter.
Charlie the Tuna sprang to life in 1961. Mr. Rogers, unlike most copywriters today, had total control over his creation -- how Charlie looked, the sound of his voice (supplied by veteran character actor Herschel Bernardi) and what he said about the product.
Charlie appeared in 86 commercials and guest spots throughout the 1960s and '70s before he was retired as the Starkist spokesfish.
By Joe Holley
Washington Post Staff Writer
3 comments:
I'm here from Michele's and I'm glad I got to visit you! Love the pop culture lesson!
My first thought was "was there a net in the pool?" Reading on, it seemed like a good way to go after 87 full years; maybe he's in the ether chuckling over the irony, too!"
This brought to mind the Mary Tyler Moore show episode of the death of Chuckles the Clown. Recently saw MTM on Larry King and that particular episode came up; it cracked me up the first time, too. Then I got distracted by MTM's strenuous efforts to blink. She looks lovely, but is it really worth it to have one's brow surgically yanked up quite so many times?
Oops, off on a tangent as usual!
I love that episode.
It would be intersting to see what she would look like without all of the ps. More normal, that's for sure.
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