Rodney Allen Rippy (born July 29, 1968) is an American former

child actor The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage, television, or in film, movies. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associa ...

, television personality, marketing director, producer, and politician. He appeared in TV commercials for the fast-food chain

Jack in the Box Jack in the Box, Inc. is an American fast food restaurant chain founded on February 21, 1951, by Robert O. Peterson in San Diego, California, where it is headquartered. The chain has over 2,200 locations, primarily serving the West Coast of t ...

in the early 1970s, as well as in numerous roles in television and movies.

Early career

In the Jack in the Box advertisements, Rippy was seen trying to wrap his mouth around the super-sized Jumbo Jack

hamburger A hamburger (or simply a burger) consists of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. The patties are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, or chilis ...

. The tag line "It's too big to eat!" (pronounced "It's too big-a-eat!") became a

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

. Another spot showed Rippy giggling while singing the song "Take Life a Little Easier," which was released as a single by

Bell Records Bell Records was an American record label founded in 1952 in New York City by Arthur Shimkin, the owner of the children's record label Golden Records, and initially a unit of Pocket Books, after the rights to the name were acquired from Benn ...

in the fall of 1973 in the wake of the commercial's popularity. The single (b/w "World of Love") appeared on the ''Billboard'' magazine "Bubbling Under" chart in October 1973, peaking at #112. An LP, also titled ''Take Life a Little Easier'' (Bell 1311), was released in 1974. Rippy subsequently had guest roles in many popular television shows, including ''

The Six Million Dollar Man ''The Six Million Dollar Man'' is an American science fiction and action television series, running from 1973 to 1978, about a former astronaut, USAF Colonel Steve Austin, portrayed by Lee Majors. After being seriously injured in a NASA test f ...

'', '' Marcus Welby, M.D.'', '' Police Story'', and '' The Odd Couple'' (in which Rippy played himself and was the owner of the building where Oscar Madison and Felix Unger lived). He also appeared frequently on talk shows such as ''

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Johnny Carson, it aired from October 1, 1962 to May 22, 1992, replacing ''T ...

'' and ''Dinah's Place'' with

Dinah Shore Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, television personality, and the chart-topping female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during the ...

. Rippy also had a co-starring role on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

Saturday morning children's show '' The Harlem Globetrotters Popcorn Machine''. Rodney made his big screen debut (uncredited) in the

Mel Brooks Melvin James Brooks (né Kaminsky; born June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and songwriter. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodie ...

comedy ''

Blazing Saddles ''Blazing Saddles'' is a 1974 American satirical postmodernist Western black comedy film directed by Mel Brooks, who co-wrote the screenplay with Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor, Norman Steinberg and Alan Uger, based on a story treatment by Be ...

'' in 1974 portraying a young Sheriff Bart. In a ''

Peanuts ''Peanuts'' (briefly subtitled ''featuring Good ol' Charlie Brown'') is a print syndication, syndicated daily strip, daily and Sunday strip, Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run ext ...

'' newspaper comic strip dated July 3, 1974,

Snoopy Snoopy is an anthropomorphic beagle in the comic strip ''Peanuts'' by American cartoonist Charles M. Schulz. He also appears in all of the ''Peanuts'' films and television specials. Since his debut on October 4, 1950, Snoopy has become one of ...

awakens from a dream in which he "had been invited out to dinner by Rodney Allen Rippy!"

Later career

Rippy graduated from Cerritos College in 1990 and

California State University, Dominguez Hills California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH, CSU Dominguez Hills, or Cal State Dominguez Hills) is a public university in Carson, California. It was founded in 1960 and is part of the California State University (CSU) system. In 2020, ...

in 1995 where he majored in marketing. In 2000 he opened his own marketing firm which he named Ripped Marketing Group. He worked on campaigns such as promoting leisure wear and

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

, among other projects. He has taken on a few acting roles since his childhood stardom, filming a few episodes of '' Parker Lewis Can't Lose'' in the early 1990s, appearing in the 1997 independent film, ''Former Child Star'' and the 2003

David Spade David Wayne Spade (born July 22, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and podcaster. His comedic style, in both his stand-up material and acting roles, relies heavily on sarcasm and self-deprecation. For his roles on television, Spade h ...

comedy '' Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star''. Rippy is a partner in the film production company Bow Tie Productions, and spokesman for Hurricane Housing Relief. He worked at

KABC-TV KABC-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship station of the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station mai ...

in Los Angeles, California. A resident of

Carson, California Carson is a city in the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay and the Los Angeles Harbor Region, Harbor regions of Los Angeles County, California, located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately away from Los Angeles International ...

, he has served as master of ceremonies for the Carson Relay For Life (Rippy's mother died of cancer in 1986). He was at one time a national director of marketing with Metro Networks (Westwood One).

Political candidacy

In 2015 Rippy was a

candidate A candidate, or nominee, is a prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position. For example, one can be a candidate for membership in a group (sociology), group or election to an offic ...

for mayor of

Compton, California Compton is a city located in the Gateway Cities region of southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, situated south of downtown Los Angeles. Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county, and on May 11, 1888, was the eighth ci ...

. He was eliminated by finishing 10th out of 12 candidates in the election's primary.

Partial filmography

References

External links

Interview on BTS with PhillySnapsJack in the Box commercial on YouTube
* * https://howiegoestohollywood.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Rippy, Rodney Allen 1968 births 20th-century African-American male actors 20th-century American male actors 21st-century African-American male actors 21st-century American male actors African-American male child actors American male child actors American male film actors American male television actors Bell Records artists California State University, Dominguez Hills alumni Film producers from California Jack in the Box Living people Male actors from Long Beach, California People from Carson, California