PINT SIZE-BUT POWERFUL . . .
Unique is the word for Johnny. Johnny is a radio’s only
vocal trademark. Johnny is the only holder of a life-time contract in the
history of radio. Johnny is only 47 inches high and weighs only 59 pounds.
Johnny is the only name he goes by—and to millions of Americans. That’s right—Johnny
is the lad who three times a week gives his famous call over two of our major
networks.
For a little man, Johnny isn’t doing badly. His job pays him
$20,000 a year, plus a good deal of fame. The audition which netted him all
this was just as unique as his career. Johnny was a bellhop in a New York
hotel. Eleven years ago, a certain Milton Biow—advertising man and genius of a
sort-passed through the hotel and got an idea. He had Johnny page a
non-existent Mr.
Philip Morris. Of course, Johnny paged Mr. Morris without
results, but when he reported his failure to Mr. Biow—he found it turned into
phenomenal success. He got the contract for the cigarette account, which Mr.
Biow handles.
Like all celebrities, Johnny has had to make personal
appearances. These turned out to be so successful that the demands for him got
a bit out of hand and the agency was forced to hire a whole corps of “stand-ins”
for Johnny. They’re called “Johnny himself, before they are sent out as
substitutes for the one and only original. Probably the most outstanding of
Johnny’s understudies is the Johnny Jr. who, each Tuesday night, steps before
the Hollywood microphone to introduce the Ginny Simms program. Each Friday and
Sunday night Johnny himself—in person and really—has to introduce It Pays to beIgnorant and The Crime Doctor.
Johnny lives in Brooklyn, his exact address being a
carefully guarded secret. Like most of his fellow-dwellers in that borough,
Johnny’s a rabid Dodger fan. All the members of Johnny’s family, except for
himself, are of normal size.
One of Johnny’s main concerns is his health, especially the
health of his throat. He loves hot dogs and hamburgers and never has any
trouble with his digestion. He’s never been seriously ill in his in his life
and, during the past eleven years on the air, he has never missed more than one
broadcast each year. He worries most about colds and sore throats and guards
against them by loading himself with vitamin pills.
Jonny may be small, but there are probably very few big men
who can look forward to a guaranteed job that lasts for life. It must be a nice
thing to have—and we wish for Johnny that he will be paging
Philip Morris for
many years to come.
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