The long-running 1969 commercial (about ten years) featuring little Anthony Martignetti of “Boston’s North end” running home in response to his mother’s call “Anthony!” from her kitchen window goes dark this week. Anthony Martignetti died, aged 63. People still recognized him from it, 50 years later.
Several years back there was a new commercial, supposedly using a grown-up Anthony keeping up the “tradition” of still eating Prince Spaghetti, but the new commercial didn’t use Martignetti for some reason. Anthony was still around, able, and reasonably photogenic. He didn’t have to speak any lines to the camera, so it couldn’t be his acting ability, but they chose to go with an actor instead.
My wife, Pepper Mill, was a dental assistant in the North End for several years, and she worked on Anthony (and his mother, too), so she’d heard the story*
*Pepper Mill has had her hands inside the mouths of many of the famous and near-famous.