By Andrew Dalton & Ted Anthony
LOS ANGELES (AP) --Ron Popeil, the quintessential TV pitchman and inventor known to generations of viewers for hawking products including the Veg-O-Matic, the Pocket Fisherman, Mr. Microphone and the Showtime Rotisserie and BBQ, has died, his family said.
Popeil died "suddenly and peacefully" Wednesday at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, his family said in a statement. He was 86. No cause of death was given.
Popeil essentially invented the popular image of the American television pitchman, whose novel products solved frustrating problems viewers didn't know they had. He popularized much of the vernacular of late-night TV ads and infomercials, with lines like "Now how much would you pay?" and "Set it and forget it."
Popeil, whose father was also an inventor-salesman, built his ability to sell things as a young man in the open-air markets of Chicago, where he moved as a teen in the 1940s after spending his earliest years in New York and Miami.
Building on an invention of his father's, the Chop-o-Matic, he marketed the slicing-and-chopping machine he called the Veg-O-Matic, sold by the company he founded and named after himself — Ronco.
He would take the product-slinging style previously done at state fairs and Woolworth stores to television starting in the late 1950s, offering viewers a chance to skip stores and buy straight from the source with a simple phone call.
As his influence grew, he crafted an enthusiastic, guy-next-door presence that suffused the 1970s with commercials for such gadgets as the the Popeil Pocket Fisherman, a self-contained fishing apparatus, and Mr. Microphone, a then-groundbreaking wireless mic that was amplified through the nearest AM radio.
"But wait — there's more," he'd say in the ads.
Though Ronco Teleproducts went bankrupt in 1984, Popeil started from the bottom again and built himself and his company back up. By the 1990s, as the infomercial gained footing and cable television's influence spread, he was doing full-length shows that evangelized about such devices as pasta makers, food dehydrators and "GLH" (Great-Looking Hair), which was commonly called "hair in a can."
He appealed to consumers in part because he was a classic American showman, equal parts P.T. Barnum and Thomas Edison — an inventor and innovator, yes, but a popularizer as well, a man who saw consumers' needs and then found accessible ways to entice them into making purchases.
In a 1997 Associated Press interview, he said his drive to invent was more than mercantile; it was a bit obsessive. "I have enough money today," he said at the time. "But I can't stop. If there's a need for these things, I can't help myself."
He seemed always to have new products at the ready: the Ronco Electric Food Dehydrator, Popeil's Pasta & 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 arose, he found a natural home, and he sold Showtime Rotisseries in droves on QVC.
Popeil was constantly parodied in pop culture. He was sent up by Dan Akroyd in the early days of "Saturday Night Live" with his "Bass-O-Matic" sketch.
"Weird Al" Yankovic had a song on his "In 3-D" album titled "Mr. Popeil," whose lyrics said, "I need a Veg-O-Matic! I need a pocket fisherman! I need a handy appliance that'll scramble an egg while it's still inside its shell! … Help me, Mr. Popeil!"
Popeil was happy to take part in the parody himself, understanding and embracing his campy public image. He played or voiced himself on shows including "The X Files," "The Simpsons" and "King of the Hill."
Popeil is survived by his wife of 25 years Robin; daughters Kathryn, Lauren Contessa and Valentina; and four grandchildren. A fifth daughter, Shannon, died before him.
Anthony reported from Tokyo.
SMPTE elects board officers, regional governors
SMPTE®,the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, has revealed the board officers and regional governors who will serve terms beginning in January 2025.
Three new officers--Richard Welsh as SMPTE president, Eric Gsell as SMPTE executive VP, and Polly Hickling as SMPTE Education VP--have been elected for a two-year term from Jan. 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2026. One SMPTE officer, Lisa Hobbs, will be continuing her service as SMPTE secretary and treasurer for another two-year term. Additionally, Raymond Yeung will be stepping into the role of standards VP on Jan. 1, 2025.
“SMPTE’s membership has spoken,” said SMPTE interim executive director Sally-Ann D’Amato. “These officers have been tasked with an important responsibility, one each of them is prepared to tackle head-on. These next two years are looking bright for SMPTE!”
In addition to the officers, 10 regional governors were elected by the Society to serve two-year 2025-2026 terms.
These include the following regional governors, re-elected to continue their service:
Asia-Pacific Region Governor
Tony Ngai, Society of Motion Imaging Ltd.
EMEA - Central & South America Region Governor
Fernando Bittencourt, FB Consultant
United Kingdom Region Governor
Chris Johns, Sky UK.
USA - Central Region Governor
William T. Hayes, Consultant
USA - Eastern Region Governor
Dover Jeanne Mundt, Riedel Communications
USA - Western Region Governor
Jeffrey F. Way, Open Drives
Also elected were four newcomers to the SMPTE Board:
Canada Region Governor
Jonathan Jobin, Grass Valley
USA - Hollywood Region Governor
Allan Schollnick, Voxx... Read More