Is the man who appears in the Perdue Chicken tv commercials really Frank Perdue, or is he an actor ? He seems too funny and witty to be the real thing . Most company founders who do their own tv commercials come across as stiff and wooden , making it seem obvious that the person is not a professional performer .For example : the late Tom Carvel and Orville Reddenbacker .
Well, Frank Perdue is dead, but he did appear in his commercials. IIRC, the only fake was one time when they used a kid and made him up to look like Frank.
The guy doing the commercials today is Jim Perdue, Frank’s son. There’s a picture of Frank at the Perdue website
That voice was not the Tom Carvel?! :eek:
As of May 30, 2002, Frank Perdue was still alive:
“Most company founders who do their own tv commercials come across as stiff and wooden , making it seem obvious that the person is not a professional performer .For example : the late Tom Carvel and Orville Reddenbacker .”
I was sure Carvel was the real deal and Reddenbacker was a ringer.
Whew!! Here’s the scoop from the http://americanhistory.si.edu/archives/d7488.htm"] Smithsonian Museum of American History:
The rest of the article is a good read for those who fondly remember summer trips to Carvel.
Rhythmdvl
I saw Frank the other day and he was still alive (although not in the best of health). He almost died a little over two years ago, around the corner from my house when he was speeding (as usual) and hit a curb and was in critical condition with a fractured neck.
It was him in the ads. His son (Jim Perdue) does them now.