Philip Morris Tobacco Company provided a small chauffeur-driven American Austin convertible automobile to take Roventini to the live radio broadcasts. It was obvious to his fans that Roventini enjoyed playing the smallness of his character, which Biow and others helped him capitalize upon. He was soon earning $50,000 annually, a substantial wage for such work in those years (as it was about $1,046,660 in today's money), according to his biography. He later recounted that he only accepted the new job after checking with his mother, with whom he lived much of his life. Roventini had been earning $15 a week at the hotel (about $310 today) and received $100 (about $2,090 today) for his very first radio commercial. In April 1933, Roventini was hired to make a "Call for Phil-ip Mor-rees" on the different radio programs sponsored by the tobacco company. Biow and Lyons both visualized the performance of the small bellboy as ideal to bring life to their fictitious character. The page had been a huge success, one that was to lead the young bellboy to a 40-year career. Ticket for the Philip Morris Program radio show, 1945, presented by "Johnny". He was later quoted in Variety: "I had no idea that Philip Morris was a cigarette." He was soon to learn that he had been wrong on both counts. "I went around the lobby yelling my head off," Johnny recalled later, "but Philip Morris didn't answer my call." Roventini initially thought that his call had been both legitimate and unsuccessful. He did not realize that he had been performing an audition. The small bellboy repeatedly cried out "Call for Philip Morris" in his distinctive high-pitched voice, several times, not knowing that there was no such person. Biow and Lyons had apparently been unnoticed by the 22-year-old bellboy, when, according to the legend, Biow approached him and paid Johnny a dollar to page a "Mr. In those days, hotel lobbies were typically elaborately furnished and used as meeting places, so situations with persons seeking each other were not uncommon. They sat in the lobby and observed him, noting both his diminutive size and distinctive voice. Lyons went to the hotel where Johnny worked. Biow and Philip Morris executive Alfred E. He had heard of the distinctive voice and appearance of Roventini. Biow had an idea to bring new life (literally) to the mature "bellboy with tray of cigarettes" campaign. Biow, the principal of the Biow Agency in New York City, was managing the advertising account of Philip Morris cigarettes. The campaign had been successful and was used for 15 years with artistic variations as the only significant changes. A drawing of a bellboy carrying a tray with a box of cigarettes on it was the original mascot. The famous "Call for Philip Morris" advertising campaign predates Johnny Roventini's role and began during World War I. Employed as a bellman (or "bellboy") in the New Yorker Hotel in New York City, he was promoted by the hotel as the "smallest bellboy in the world". As an adult, he was 47 inches tall and weighed 59 pounds. Roventini was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Italian immigrants. He also played roles in the growth of broadcast media, most notably helping Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz with the initial success of their innovative I Love Lucy comedy series beginning in 1951. He was described by Philip Morris personnel as a "living trademark", and represented the company for over 40 years. He soon became famous as a product spokesman for Philip Morris brand cigarettes in radio, television and print advertising media. He reportedly could always vocalize a perfect B-flat tone as he repeated those words, literally over a million times during his career, according to his own estimate. Less than four feet tall as a fully developed adult, Roventini was working as a bellboy at the New Yorker Hotel in 1933 when he was discovered by an advertising mogul, who had him perform a page, issuing a "Call for Philip Morris". Johnny Roventini, also known as John Louis Roventini and popularly as Johnny Philip Morris, (August 15, 1910 – November 30, 1998) was an American actor. ![]() Mark Goodson, Johnny Roventini, and Bill Todman (1952)
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