Rodney Allen Rippy

Rodney Allen Rippy is a former American 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.

Rippy graduated from California State University, Dominguez Hills in 1995.[4] 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 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 in Los Angeles.

Rodney\'s Website