Very few media users would recognize his face, but most knew his voice. Celebrity came once to Elmer "Len" Dresslar by way of a TV commercial voiceover. His was the voice of General Mills' trade character the Jolly Green Giant. Even more unusual was that Dresslar's very profitable role in this long-lasting ad campaign consisted merely of the three words "ho, ho,ho."
In this campaign, a cartoon-style giant, green from head to elf-shoed toe, smiled benignly, hands on hips, as the familiar jingle played and the voices sang, "From the valley of the jolly--ho, ho, ho--Green Giant." Those who grew up hearing this jingle could never forget its tune until their dieing day--even if they tried.
The Giant dates from 1928 but wasn't green until the late 1950s. Concerned that the trade character was frightening to some children, General Mills opted for a kinder, gentler giant--one who smiled a lot and was green. Drellsar periodically re-recorded the "ho, ho, ho" part in his deep bass-baritone voice until he retired in 1999.
Dresslar was also a jazz singer and recorded frequently with the jazz quartet Singers Unlimited.
His voice was used in other ad campaigns, as well, including the part of Snap in Rice Krispies' Snap, Crackle and Pop commercials and the part of Dig'Em the frog for Sugar Smacks cereal. His was for a time the voice of the Marlboro Man, and he did voiceovers for Dinty Moore beef stew and Amoco products. His celebrity, however, was built around those three little Green Giant words. He died in 2005.
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