Rodney Allen Rippy
| Rodney Allen Rippy | |
|---|---|
Rippy in 1974.
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| Born |
July 29, 1968 Long Beach, California, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | California State University, Dominguez Hills |
| Occupation | Child actor and television personality |
| Website | www |
Rodney Allen Rippy (born July 29, 1968) is an American former child actor. He appeared in TV commercials for the fast-food chain Jack in the Box in the early 1970s, as well as in numerous roles in television and movies.
In the advertisements, Rippy was seen trying to wrap his mouth around the super-sized Jumbo Jack hamburger. The tag line "It's too big to eat!" (pronounced "It's too big-a-eat!") became a catch-phrase. Another spot showed Rippy giggling while singing the song "Take Life a Little Easier," which was released as a single by Bell Records in the fall of 1973 in the wake of the commercial's popularity.
The 45 (b/w "World of Love") approached the Billboard magazine "Bubbling Under the Hot 100" chart in October 1973, peaking at #112. At the age of five, Rippy became the youngest person ever to make any Billboard music chart.
Rippy subsequently had guest roles in many popular television shows, including The Six Million Dollar Man, Marcus Welby, M.D., Police Story, and The Odd Couple (where Rodney played the owner of the building where Oscar and Felix lived). He also appeared frequently on talk shows such as The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and Dinah's Place with Dinah Shore. Rippy also had a co-starring role on the CBS Saturday morning children's show The Harlem Globetrotters Popcorn Machine.
Rodney made his big screen debut (uncredited, filmed before the Jack in the Box spots) in the Mel Brooks comedy Blazing Saddles in 1974. He portrayed a young Sheriff Bart aboard his parents' buckboard wagon after a brutal Sioux nation attack. When the Sioux chief, portrayed by Brooks, allows the pioneers passage (for being darker than the Sioux are), Rippy says his only line, "Thank you." In a Peanuts newspaper comic strip dated July 3, 1974, Snoopy awakens from a dream in which he "had been invited out to dinner by Rodney Allen Rippy!"
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