ROVENTINI, 88, DIMINUTIVE BELLBOY IN PHILIP MORRIS CIGARETTE ADS.Byline: Jim Fitzgerald James F. Fitzgerald (born March 1926 in Janesville, Wisconsin) is an American businessman and philanthropist. He is best known as a former owner of the Milwaukee Bucks and the Golden State Warriors, both NBA teams. Fitzgerald attended Notre Dame ('47). Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Johnny Roventini Johnny Roventini (also known as John Louis Roventini and popularly as Johnny Philip Morris) (August 15, 1910–November 30, 1998) was an American dwarf actor of Italian-American heritage. , the pint-size bellboy who became one of the best-known figures in American advertising by shouting, ``Call for Philip Morris,'' has died. He was 88. Roventini died Monday at a hospital in Suffern, N.Y., said a nephew, Philip Roventini. The cause of death had not been determined. In 1933, Johnny Roventini was 22 and being promoted by the New Yorker Hotel The 43-story New Yorker Hotel was built in 1929 and opened its doors on January 2, 1930. Much like its contemporaries, the Empire State Building (opened in 1931) and the Chrysler Building (opened in 1930), the New Yorker is designed in the Art Deco style that was popular in the as ``the smallest bellboy in the world'' at 4 feet tall when he met advertising man Milton Biow, who had an idea for a cigarette ad. Biow gave him a dollar ``to locate Philip Morris.'' ``I had no idea that Philip Morris was a cigarette,'' Roventini said later, and he strode through the hotel, shouting ``Call for Philip Mor-rees.'' That began a career that brought Roventini a lifetime contract and a yearly salary of up to $50,000 - fabulous at the time. He was heard on popular live radio programs and on some of the most-watched television shows of the 1950s and 1960s, including ``I Love Lucy I Love Lucy is a television situation comedy, starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, also featuring Vivian Vance and William Frawley. The series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on CBS (181 episodes, including the "lost" Christmas episode and original ,'' ``Candid Camera'' and the Red Skelton and Jackie Gleason shows. Darienne Dennis, a spokeswoman for Philip Morris Cos. Inc., said Roventini, who always appeared in his short-jacketed bellboy outfit, was the company's ``living trademark.'' She said Roventini estimated that he called out the slogan more than a million times - and shook hands with more than a million people. ``I remember going out with him,'' his nephew said. ``We'd go to the post office or something and they'd yell, Johnny, give us the call.'' CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Johnny Roventini, shown in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of in 1976, died Monday, a family member has reported. Associated Press |
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