RIP: The Jolly Green Giant

Kev J.B.

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Oct 26, 2005, 12:16:22 AM10/26/05

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To keep in the spirit of things, and to make sure there's plenty to
keep Arthur going..............

VOICE OF JOLLY GREEN GIANT DIES AT 80
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. - Elmer "Len" Dresslar Jr., who extolled
vegetables to generations of TV watchers as the booming voice of the
Jolly Green Giant, has died. He was 80.

Dresslar died Oct. 16 of cancer, according to daughter Teri Bennett.

Dresslar was an entertainer and singer for nearly six decades. But his
voice rang through millions of households when he sang the simple
refrain, "Ho, Ho, Ho," in an ad jingle for Green Giant foods.

"His was the most consistent and most frequent voice of the Jolly Green
Giant over the years, the one consumers are going to recognize," said
Tara Johnson, a spokeswoman for General Mills, which owns Green Giant
Co.

Dresslar, a Kansas native, moved to Chicago with his wife in the early
1950s to study voice after touring with a production of "South
Pacific." By the 1960s, the Navy veteran had carved out a career
singing in clubs, on television and in advertising jingles.

He recorded 15 albums with The Singers Unlimited jazz group and
appeared on the CBS television show "In Town Tonight" from 1955 to
1960. He and his wife, Dorothy, retired to Palm Springs in 1991.

Ad jingles were the most consistent part of his career, and he landed
roles for Rice Krispies cereal, Marlboro cigarettes, Amoco oil and
Dinty Moore canned beef stew.

He periodically re-recorded the "Ho, Ho, Ho" for Jolly Green Giant
commercials, most recently about 10 years ago.

Bennett said her father auditioned for the Green Giant job without any
idea his baritone would become so recognizable.

"He never got tired of it," she said. "If nothing else, it put my
sister and I through college."

MIBecky

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Oct 26, 2005, 12:58:14 AM10/26/05

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Kev J.B. wrote:
> To keep in the spirit of things, and to make sure there's plenty to
> keep Arthur going..............
>
> VOICE OF JOLLY GREEN GIANT DIES AT 80

> PALM SPRINGS, Calif....

O.K., now that's just funny. Forgive me for laughing at the dead...
that was well-played Kev! ;)

MIBecky

Allona Mayost

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Oct 27, 2005, 10:30:46 PM10/27/05

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Do you think he was a Rocky Horror fan?

MIBecky

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Oct 28, 2005, 12:40:10 PM10/28/05

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Allona Mayost wrote:
> Do you think he was a Rocky Horror fan?
>

If there's any justice in this world, I hope he was. ;)

MIBecky

The Fixxer

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Oct 30, 2005, 7:18:22 PM10/30/05

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Can we just start an OBIT newsgroup? Or is there some kind of contest
to see who can post a death first no matter how esoteric?

Arthur Levesque

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Oct 30, 2005, 8:19:28 PM10/30/05

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The Fixxer>Can we just start an OBIT newsgroup?

I'm pretty sure they already exist; as do mailing lists, chat rooms,
livejournal communities, et al. There's no excuse for all the vultures
to need to dance on peoples' graves in this newsgroup.

The Fixxer>Or is there some kind of contest to see who can post a death
The Fixxer>first no matter how esoteric?

Certainly seems that way.
--
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