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LOS ANGELES (AP) – Ron Popeil, the quintessential television pitchman and inventor known to generations of TV viewers for peddling products including Veg-O-Matic, Pocket Fisherman, Mr. Microphone and Showtime Rotisserie and BBQ, passed away, his family mentioned.
Popeil died “suddenly and peacefully” Wednesday at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, his family said in a statement. He was 86 years old. No cause of death was given.
Popeil essentially invented the popular image of the American television pitchman, whose new products solved frustrating issues viewers didn’t know they had. He popularized much of the vernacular of late-night TV commercials and infomercials, with phrases like, “Now how much would you pay?” and “Set it up and forget it.”
Popeil, whose father was also an inventor-seller, developed his ability to sell things as a young man in Chicago’s open-air markets, where he moved as a teenager in the 1940s after spending his early years in New York and Miami.
Based on an invention of his father, the Chop-o-Matic, he marketed the slicing and chopping machine he called the Veg-O-Matic, sold by the company he founded and which bears his name – Ronco.
From the late 1950s, it would adopt the style of product slinging previously practiced at state fairs and Woolworth stores on television, offering viewers the ability to skip stores and buy direct from the source with a simple phone call.
As his influence grew, he created an enthusiastic presence, a guy next door who infused the 1970s with advertisements for gadgets such as the Popeil Pocket Fisherman, a self-contained fishing device, and Mr. Microphone, a revolutionary wireless microphone at the time. which was amplified by the nearest AM radio.
“But wait, there’s more,” he said in the ads.
Although Ronco Teleproducts went bankrupt in 1984, Popeil started from the bottom up and built himself and his business anew. In the 1990s, as infomercials gained traction and the influence of cable television spread, he made full-length shows that evangelized devices such as pasta makers, food dehydrators, and “GLH” ( Great-Looking Hair), which was commonly referred to as In a Box. “
He attracted consumers in part because he was a classic American showman, halfway between PT Barnum and Thomas Edison – an inventor and innovator, yes, but also a popularizer, a man who saw the needs of consumers and then found accessible ways to attract them. to make purchases.
In an interview with the Associated Press in 1997, he said that his will to invent was more than mercantile; it was a little obsessive. “I have enough money today,” he said at the time. “But I can’t stop. If there is a need for these things, I can’t help myself.
He always seemed to have new products on hand: the Ronco Electric Food Dehydrator, the Popeil Pasta and Sausage Maker, the Inside the Eggshell Egg Scrambler, the Bagel Cutter, the Hav-A-Maid Mop, the Speed Tufting Kit, The Whip-O-Matic.
When home shopping networks first appeared, he found a natural home and mass-sold Showtime Rotisseries on QVC.
Popeil was constantly parodied in pop culture. It was sent by Dan Akroyd at the start of “Saturday Night Live” with his “Bass-O-Matic” sketch.
“Weird Al” Yankovic had a song on his album “In 3-D” called “Mr. Popeil”, the lyrics of which read, “I need a Veg-O-Matic! I need a Pocket fisherman! I need a handy device that will scramble an egg while it is still in its shell! … Help me, Mr. Popeil!
Popeil was happy to participate in the parody himself, understanding and embracing his campy public image. He has acted or voiced on shows such as “The X Files”, “The Simpsons” and “King of the Hill”.
Popeil is survived by his wife Robin for 25 years; daughters Kathryn, Lauren Contessa and Valentina; and four grandchildren. A fifth daughter, Shannon, died before him.
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Anthony reported from Tokyo.
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Follow AP Entertainment writer Andrew Dalton on Twitter: https://twitter.com/andyjamesdalton
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