Ron Popeil was a well-known American inventor and marketing figure. He made cameo appearances in infomercials for the Showtime Rotisserie and developed the term “Set it and forget it!” as well as popularising the phrase “But wait, there’s more!” on television as early as the mid-1950s. He is renowned for having great vision, which has molded his professional life.
Early Life
On May 3, 1935, Ronald M. Popeil was born to a Jewish family in Manhattan in the borough of New York, New York, United States, and grew up in New York City. When he was six years old, his parents split, and he and his brother were sent to live with their grandparents in Florida for the summer. In 1952, when he was 17 years old, he moved to Chicago with his grandparents to work for his father, Samuel Popeil, in the manufacturing facility of his company (Popeil Brothers). Ron Popeil’s grandparents later returned to Florida, and he remained in the state with his father. After graduating from high school, Popeil enrolled in the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he became a member of Alpha Epsilon Pi before withdrawing after six months.
Ron Popeil Career
Popeil learned his craft from his father, who invented and sold various culinary gadgets to large department stores, including the Chop-O-Matic and the Veg-O-Matic. The Chop-O-Matic was a $3.98 gadget that sold over two million units. It was so efficient at slicing vegetables that it was impractical for salesmen to carry what they required for their pitches. The solution was to videotape it. Ron started out as a dealer for his father’s culinary items before forming Ronco in 1964. He kept his father’s distributorship and added products from other producers. In the 1970s, Ron and his father (Samuel) competed for the same retail store. He currently serves on the Business, Management, and Legal Advisory Boards of UC Los Angeles.
In August 2005, he sold Ronco to Fi-Tek VII, a Denver holding company, for $55 million in order to remain as the firm’s spokesman and inventor while spending more time with his family. In the United States alone, Ronco’s housewares segment produced nearly $8 million in sales. Popeil is notable for a variety of products, including the Chop-O-Matic hand food processor, which it sells and manufactures. The 5in1 Turkey Fryer & Food Cooking System, as well as the Giant Dehydrator and Beef Jerky Machine, were designed by the business. After Ron left the company, his son Mike proceeded to design products such as the Dial-O’Matic, the Veg-successor. Matic’s The Chop-O-Matic hand food processor was designed by Ron Popeil, who may have been the inspiration for comedian Gallagher’s “Sledge O’Matic.”
Social Media
Ron Popeil was active on Instagram, where he had 16.1K followers and 3,206 followings with 145 posts. He also had a Twitter account. Also been active on Twitter since July 2011, when he had an estimated 8,749 followers and 4,563 followings at the time of this writing.
Ron Popeil Biography |
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| Real Name | Ronald M. Popeil |
| Birth Date | May 3, 1935 |
| Died | July 28, 2021 |
| Age | 86 Years |
| Birth Place | Manhattan, New York City, USA |
| Nationality | American |
| Profession | Inventor & Marketing Personality |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Sun sign | Taurus |
Physical Statistics |
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| Height | in feet inches – 6’ 0” – in Centimeters – 183 cm |
| Weight | in Kilograms – 78 kg – in Pounds – 171 lbs |
| Hair Color | Black |
| Eye Color | Gray |
| Body Type | Slim |
Family |
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| Father | Samuel Popeil |
| Mother | Eloise Popeil |
| Sister | Two (Lisa & Pamela Popeil) |
| Brother | Two (Jerry & Jerome Popeil) |
Qualification/Education |
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| School | – |
| College | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
Relationship Status |
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| Marital Status | Married |
| Wife? | Robin Angers (m. 1995), Marilyn Green (m. 1956–1963) |
| Children | Five |
Personal Life
Ron Popeil married Marilyn Greene in 1956, with whom he had two daughters before divorcing her two years later in 1963. He then married Lisa Boehne, with whom he had a daughter, and they have two more children together. When he married Robin Angers, he had two additional daughters with her. He and Boehne separated sometime around 1995 when he married Robin Angers. Ashley Tisdale and Jennifer Tisdale were his aunt and uncle, respectively.
Ron Popeil Net Worth
Ron Popeil had a total net worth of $200 million dollars, which he derived entirely from his passion and hard work as an American innovator and marketing celebrity, as well as the founder of the direct response marketing company Ronco, among other things.
Trivia
- Ron Popeil is the founder of Ronco, a direct response marketing firm.
- Malcolm Gladwell published the essay about Ron with the title “The Pitchman” that won him National Magazine Award in 2001.
- In the year 2000, The New Yorker published the piece for the first time.
- Popeil received the Ig Nobel Prize in Consumer Engineering in 1993 for his contributions to the field.
- The prize was given in celebration of his “redefining the industrial revolution” with his products, according to the awards committee, who characterized him as an “incessant innovator and perennial pitchman of late-night television.”
- In 2001, he was named to the Direct Response Hall of Fame and received the Electronic Retail Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
- He formerly served on the board of directors of Mirage Resorts for 22 years under Steve Wynn, as well as the board of directors of MGM Hotels for 7 years under Kirk Kerkorian.
- Popeil died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on July 28, 2021, at the age of 86. He’d been taken there for a medical emergency the day before.
