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| -Obits- |
| Dick Wilson, 'Mr. Whipple' |
| 2007-11-19 |
| Dick Wilson, the character actor and pitchman who for 21 years played an uptight grocer begging customers "Please, don't squeeze the Charmin," died Monday. He was 91. Wilson died of natural causes at the Motion Picture & Television Fund Hospital in Woodland Hills, said his daughter Melanie Wilson, who is known for her role as a flight attendant on the ABC sitcom "Perfect Strangers." "He is part of the culture. He was still funny to the very end. That's his legacy," his daughter said. Wilson made more than 500 commercials as Mr. George Whipple, a man consumed with keeping bubbly housewives from fondling toilet paper. The punch line of most spots was that Whipple himself was a closeted squeezer. The first commercial aired in 1964 and by the time the campaign ended in 1985 the tag line and Wilson, a former Canadian airman and vaudeville veteran, were pop culture touchstones. "Everybody says, 'Where did they find you?' I say I was never lost. I've been an actor for 55 years," Wilson told the San Francisco Examiner in 1985. Though Wilson said he initially resisted commercial work, he learned to appreciate its nuance. "It's the hardest thing to do in the entire acting realm. You've got 24 seconds to introduce yourself, introduce the product, say something nice about it and get off gracefully." Dennis Legault, Procter & Gamble's Charmin brand manager, said in a statement that Wilson deserves much of the credit for Charmin's success in the marketplace. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #2 TOP SECRET Joe. EYES ONLY. Charmin could have saved the Clinton presidency too. If only Bubba squeezed the Charmin instead of the interns or had some around to clean up the blue dress. |
| Posted by: ed 2007-11-19 18:09 |
| #1 RIP, Mr. Whipple. "Deserved much of the credit for Charmin's success" - its very true. Charmin was just another also-ran/wannabe product until "Mr. Whipple" came along. BLOOM COUNTY COMIC [1980's] > Reagan years - symbolic in BLOOM of bringing back of law-and order in post-Vietnam/Carter USA > "HEY YOU, YOU SQUEEZED THAT CHARMIN, DIDN'T YOU". |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2007-11-19 18:00 |