John Moschitta Jr.: Difference between revisions
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'''John Moschitta, Jr.''' (born August 6, 1954, in [[New York City]]), is a spokesperson and performer best known for his rapid speech delivery. He appeared in over 100 commercials as "The [[Micro Machines]] Man" as well as a 1981 ad for [[FedEx]]. |
'''John Moschitta, Jr.''' (born August 6, 1954, in [[New York City]]), is a spokesperson and performer best known for his rapid speech delivery. He appeared in over 100 commercials as "The [[Micro Machines]] Man" as well as a 1981 ad for [[FedEx]]. |
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Moschitta had been credited in ''[[The Guinness Book of World Records]]'' as the World's Fastest Talker, with the ability to articulate 586 [[Words_per_minute#Speech_and_listening|words per minute]]. (His record was later broken by the current record-holder, [[Steve Woodmore]], who speaks 637 wpm.) Raised with five sisters, Moschitta often remarked that he needed to talk fast "just to get a word in edgewise". |
Moschitta had been credited in ''[[The Guinness Book of World Records]]'' as the World's Fastest Talker, with the ability to articulate 586 [[Words_per_minute#Speech_and_listening|words per minute]]. (His record was later broken by the current record-holder, [[Steve Woodmore]], who speaks 637 wpm.) Raised with five sisters, Moschitta often remarked that he needed to talk fast "just to get a word in edgewise".{{cn}} |
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==Early work== |
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At an early age, he acted in local community theater and school productions. In the 1970s, Moschitta attended [[Nassau Community College]], where he studied theater and appeared in over 14 shows in two years, including a production of ''Room Service'' alongside Nassau alum [[Billy Crystal]]. Moschitta was also a contestant on the game show ''[[Pyramid (game show)|The $25,000 Pyramid]]'', in which he was paired with comedian [[Joan Rivers]] and won $10,500. He returned to the show on a number of occasions as a celebrity guest. |
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After several years working in television production in New York City, he was hired by [[Warner Communications]] as a producer and performer for [[QUBE]], the world's first 2-way interactive cable system. QUBE premiered on December 1, 1977 in [[Columbus, Ohio]], with eleven hours of live programming per day. Besides his local duties, Moschitta also hosted ''Nickel Flicks'' for the brand new [[Nickelodeon Network]]. The show aired nationwide three times per day, every day. In 1979, he moved to [[Los Angeles]]. |
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==FedEx commercial== |
==FedEx commercial== |
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In 1981, after appearances on several television shows, Moschitta appeared on the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] TV series ''[[That's Incredible!]]'' Patrick Kelly and Michael Tesch, employees of the [[Ally & Gargano]] ad agency, hired Moschitta after seeing him on the show. In the ad, |
In 1981, after appearances on several television shows, Moschitta appeared on the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] TV series ''[[That's Incredible!]]'' Patrick Kelly and Michael Tesch, employees of the [[Ally & Gargano]] ad agency, hired Moschitta after seeing him on the show. In the ad, "Fast Paced World" for [[FedEx|Federal Express]], directed by [[Joe Sedelmaier]], Moschitta played a fast-talking executive named Jim Spleen. Considered{{by whom}} to be the most award-winning commercial in the history of advertising,{{cn}} it garnered six [[Clio awards]], including Best Performance–Male award for Moschitta. Turn-of-the-century polls named it the Most Effective Campaign in the History of Advertising and named Moschitta the Most Effective Spokesperson.{{cn}} The 40th-anniversary issue of [[New York Magazine]] (10/06/2008) crowned it "The Most Memorable Advertisement Ever".{{cn}} ''[[Advertising Age]]'' ranked the ad number 11 among the top-100 advertising campaigns of the 20th century.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tvacres.com/admascots_federal.htm |title=TV Acres Advertising Mascots |accessdate=September 18, 2008}}</ref> |
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==Other commercials== |
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In addition to his commercials for Federal Express, he completed over 750 television and radio commercials, including national campaigns for [[Minute Rice]], [[Quality Inn]], [[Northwest Airlines]], [[Olympus Corporation|Olympus Camera]], [[Mattel]], [[Post Foods|Post Cereals]], [[Game.com|Tiger Games]], [[Continental Airlines]], [[Burger King]], [[American Broadcasting Company| ABC]], [[NBC]], [[CBS]], [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]], [[HBO]], and [[Jet Blue]]. The "Great Cable Comparison" spot for HBO, in which he played a dozen characters, earned him his second CLIO recognition and a Silver Medal from the International Film and Television Festival of New York (1985). He played "The [[Micro Machines]] Man" in over 100 commercials that ran worldwide. Each one ended with the memorable tagline "Remember, if it doesn't say Micro Machines, it's not the real thing." Moschitta and various spots featuring his performances have won dozens of prestigious advertising awards.{{citation needed|date=November 2010}} In 1996, Moschitta was honored by the [[Academy of Television Arts & Sciences]] (the [[Emmy]] organization) for his contribution to outstanding commercials. |
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Along with partners Jim Becker and Andy Mayer, John "Mighty Mouth" Moschitta recorded a pugnacious take on ten classic novels in which he summarizes each book's entire story in approximately one minute. Included in this collection, entitled ''Ten Classics in Ten Minutes,'' are [[Herman Melville]]'s ''[[Moby-Dick]]''; [[William Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]''; [[F Scott Fitzgerald]]'s ''[[The Great Gatsby]]''; [[Margaret Mitchell]]'s ''[[Gone with the Wind]]''; and [[John Steinbeck]]'s ''[[The Grapes of Wrath]]''. Soon after, the team produced a second recording, ''Professor John Moschitta's Ten Minute University.'' It promised a traditional four-year college education in just ten minutes, and came with a mini-diploma. It featured rapidly-delivered, humorous, 60-second lectures on various subjects, such as comparative literature, physics, economics, psychology, and football. Both were originally released on audio cassette in the 1980s; they were released on [[CD]] in 2004, with accompanying books. |
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==Television work== |
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In 1990, Moschitta created the board game "Motor Mouth" with partners David Fuhrer and Mark Setteducati for Tiger Games. The game featured tongue twisters, a pair of plastic red lips that were passed around like a hot potato and an ever-ticking timer; the fast-paced game can also be found in other countries as "Tongue Tangle". An on-air radio version of the game was launched on the [[Game Show Network]]'s GSN Radio station in December 2008. The advertising depicted him slowing down after introducing himself, then losing the game to family members due to a buzzer. |
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Moschitta has had regular, recurring or starring roles in many television shows, including ''[[Saved by the Bell]]''; ''[[General Hospital]]''; ''[[Madame's Place]]''; ''[[Matt Houston]]''; ''[[Trapper John, M.D.]]''; ''[[Zorro and Son]]''; ''The Half-Hour Comedy Hour''; ''[[The Smothers Brothers Show]]''; ''[[Sesame Street]]''; and ''Callahan''. In addition, he has made many guest-star appearances on shows such as ''[[Ally McBeal]]'', ''[[Chicago Hope]]'', ''[[The Big Easy (film)|The Big Easy]]'', ''[[Caroline in the City]]'', ''[[All That]]'', ''[[Cousin Skeeter]]'', ''[[The A-Team]]'', ''[[Sisters (TV series)|Sisters]]'', ''Spencer'', ''[[3-2-1 Contact]]'', and ''[[Square One TV]]''. He can be seen in the films ''[[Farce of the Penguins]]'', ''Queerspiricy'', ''[[Blankman]]'', ''[[Dick Tracy (1990 film)|Dick Tracy]]'', ''Going Under'', ''Dirty Laundry'', ''[[Starchaser: The Legend of Orin]]'', ''[[Ratboy]]'', and ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]''. |
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He read the rules on the [[55th Academy Awards|55th Annual Academy Awards]], sang and danced on the Emmy Awards with other commercial icons ([[Dick Wilson]]—Mr. Whipple, Jane Whithers—Josephine the Plumber, [[Jesse White (actor)]]—the Maytag Repair Man, [[Virginia Christine]]—Mrs. Olson, [[Patsy Garrett]]—the Chow Chow Chow woman, and others) and appeared on television specials and news shows such as ''[[Motown 25]]'', ''Bloopers'', ''[[Disneyland]] 30th Anniversary'', ''[[60 Minutes]]'', ''[[20/20 (US television series)|20/20]]'', ''Most X-treme'', ''[[Real People]]'', and co-hosted [[TV Land]]'s Greatest Commercial with David Leisure (Joe Izusu). He was featured on [[VH1]]'s 101 Favorite Stars and on [[I Love the 80s 3-D]], for which he very quickly summarized each year's events. Celebrity game show appearances (as either the show's announcer or a panelist) include [[Pyramid (game show)|The $100,000 Pyramid]], [[Family Feud]], [[Win, Lose or Draw]], [[Family Challenge]], [[Balderdash (game show)|Balderdash]], [[Identity (game show)|Identity]] and [[Hollywood Squares]]. He has been a [[Jeopardy!]] answer and a [[Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (US game show)|Who Wants to Be a Millionaire]] question. |
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Moschitta has made appearances on over 1,000 television and radio talk shows including ''[[The Tonight Show]]'' (with both [[Johnny Carson]] and [[Jay Leno]]); ''[[The Oprah Winfrey Show|Oprah]]''; and ''[[Good Morning America]]''. In the corporate world, Moschitta has filmed videos or made personal appearances for over 350 of the [[Fortune 500]] companies as well as many other companies. Moschitta has met and performed for eight [[US Presidents]]. |
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==Other appearances== |
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Moschitta appeared in the 1980s animated series ''[[The Transformers (TV series)|The Transformers]]'' as the [[Autobot]] [[Blurr]], a role which he reprised more than 20 years later for the [[Cartoon Network]] series ''[[Transformers Animated]]''. He has also provided voices for characters on ''[[Family Guy]]'', ''[[Garfield and Friends]]'', ''[[Pinky and the Brain]]'', ''[[Bobby's World]]'' and several episodes of ''[[Robot Chicken]]''. As an announcer, he was the voice of [[TLC (TV channel)|TLC]]'s ''[[Your Place or Mine?]]'', [[PAX Network]]'s ''[[Balderdash (game show)|Balderdash]]'', [[Game Show Network]]'s ''[[Scrabble (game show)|Scrabble]]'' and the final season of ''[[Hollywood Squares#1998–2004|Hollywood Squares]]'' in syndication. |
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Moschitta's first love is theater and his favorite shows and roles include ''[[The Pirates of Penzance]]'' (Major General), ''[[Never Gonna Dance]]'' (Pangborn), ''[[Sweeney Todd]]'' (Pirelli), ''[[The Last of the Red Hot Lovers]]'' (Barney), ''Rock and Roll Heaven: The Musical Comedy'' (Satan), ''[[The Music Man]]'' (Harold Hill), and ''[[Arsenic and Old Lace (play)|Arsenic and Old Lace]]'' (Dr. Einstein) |
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For many years, he has been involved in several charities and not-for-profit organizations. Besides working hands-on with many groups, he often volunteers his time to conduct live auctions at their gala events. The ''Los Angeles Times'' states that, as far as celebrity auctioneers go, "no one can suck money out of a room like John Moschitta Jr." To date he has raised over 20 million dollars for charity using his fast-talking talents. |
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Moschitta also voices a one-time character named "Key-per" from ''[[Adventure Time]]'' in the episode "The Enchiridion". |
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== See also == |
== See also == |
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Revision as of 19:32, 25 November 2012
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John Moschitta, Jr. (born August 6, 1954, in New York City), is a spokesperson and performer best known for his rapid speech delivery. He appeared in over 100 commercials as "The Micro Machines Man" as well as a 1981 ad for FedEx.
Moschitta had been credited in The Guinness Book of World Records as the World's Fastest Talker, with the ability to articulate 586 words per minute. (His record was later broken by the current record-holder, Steve Woodmore, who speaks 637 wpm.) Raised with five sisters, Moschitta often remarked that he needed to talk fast "just to get a word in edgewise".[citation needed]
FedEx commercial
In 1981, after appearances on several television shows, Moschitta appeared on the ABC TV series That's Incredible! Patrick Kelly and Michael Tesch, employees of the Ally & Gargano ad agency, hired Moschitta after seeing him on the show. In the ad, "Fast Paced World" for Federal Express, directed by Joe Sedelmaier, Moschitta played a fast-talking executive named Jim Spleen. Considered[by whom?] to be the most award-winning commercial in the history of advertising,[citation needed] it garnered six Clio awards, including Best Performance–Male award for Moschitta. Turn-of-the-century polls named it the Most Effective Campaign in the History of Advertising and named Moschitta the Most Effective Spokesperson.[citation needed] The 40th-anniversary issue of New York Magazine (10/06/2008) crowned it "The Most Memorable Advertisement Ever".[citation needed] Advertising Age ranked the ad number 11 among the top-100 advertising campaigns of the 20th century.[1]
See also
- Tachylalia, term for extremely rapid speech
- Fran Capo, fastest female speaker
- Steve Woodmore, current fastest speaker
References
- ^ "TV Acres Advertising Mascots". Retrieved September 18, 2008.