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4-A THE MIAMI NEWS' Wed., April 24, 1968 CALLING PHILIP MORRIS Pa~e (Bo~ ~ ) Of Histor~~. ~ ~ ~ • ,~ Johnny Roventinllatched onto a four- ' word line some 35 years ago and turned it into a comfortable living for the re;t o{ his life. . Roventlni is the honest-to-goodness, one-and-only, Johnny the Pageboy of Phil- lip Morris fame. I didn't believe It when the press agent called to say he was in town. I've met at least four other Johnnies over the years. But a call from the president of Philip Morris, who is attending a convention of tobacco dealers In Miami Beach, con- vinced me that Roventini is the original, that he holds a lifetime contract with Philip Morris and that contract has been In effect for 34 %s years. _ It seems that Philip Morris hired a number of "Johnny Juniors" to tour the country back In the '30s and '40s when Roventini, was tied up full time doing radio shows. "You see these Johnny Juniors or peo- ple pretending to be the originali Johnny, all over the country working in hotels, nightclubs and bars," explained Roventini in his ear-splitting, B-flat voice. "They're just little people like m7self trying to make a living; No one hothers them so long as they don't use the Philip Morris name." Roventini, son of Itali~n immigrant's, was working as a pageboy in the New Yorker Hotel in 1933 wht'}i famed adman Milton Biow brought the th~n president of Philip Morris, Alfred'Lyon, by the hotel to hear Johnny shout: "CalllAil For Phill-lup Mor-ret¢." He was hired on the !apot to do one radio commercial for $75. It was a lot of money. Roventini was only making $15 a week at' his hotel job. At first he simply took am hour or so off work to do the radio commercials„ but after five months he quit his job at the New Yorker and signed a contract with the cigaret firm. In the days of live radio, Roventint was kept quite busy doing commercials. Philip Morris had' three shows a week, two playhouse affairs and a show called "Crime Doctor" on Sundays. He did a New York show and waited around for Johnny... 35 Years Ago ... And As He Looks Today 1002402468 (1 S1

I PAGE EIGHTEEN THE WARREN SENTINEL, THURSDAY, AUGUST 29, 1968 E Johnny Philip Morris was a visitor at the FMC Corp., American sViscose Division ~ plant here August 16. He is seen with E1don E, Camp- bell (right), plant manager, and Robert Spangler, manufaeturing super- ,intendent. ac~46`4 & , the West, Coast repeat Later, there were numerous big band shows. In those days Roventini was quite small - slightly under four-feet "But I've• kept growing alll these years," he ex- plained. "Today I'm four-foot-four and I've added two inches in the past 15 years. I'm told' this kind of growth isn't uncom- mon for Lilliputians."' Roventini uses'the world "LilliputSan" to distinguish himself fr= dwarfs. Liili'. putians, he says, are small people who are formed in proportion to larger people. RoventinI' wouldn't give his age, al- though I suspect he Is crowding 60. He enjoys his career touring for the tobacco firm and Isn't the least big anxious to retire. He was at the tobacco convention this week, leaves for Louisville and the Kentucky Derby doings tomorrow. His earnings with Philip Morris bought a comfortable, two family residence in Brooklyn. Roventini lives upstairs with his sister and'her husband. His brother, Ange- lo, lives downstairs with his family and is Johnny's travelling companion. Another brother, Fred, is the offiiaat' litnousiae driver for Philip Morris In New York. Roventini has owned his own yacht since 1941, plays golf to combat a bulging midriff' produced by hi§ sister's spaghetti and' is known from coast-to-coast by a bevy of showbiz celebrities. His favorites are Lucille Ball and Red Skelton. "Lucy is a real lady to work withi" says Roventini, "and Skelton, he's tops. He's the kind of fellow who'll put on . a two-hour show, be dead tired, but not too tired to talk with all the people that press in to meet him afterwards." Roventini has no regrets over being small. "It's a wonderful life," he said, "and I've been very lucky." . During our hour-long talk Roventini smoked almost a half pack of dgarets. He ,.wasn't smoking Philip Morris cigarets. He ,:refers Marlboro greens with s fii+Pr tin