Ambiance

Death of a legend! [Updated]

November 18, 2013 at 3:59 pm (Icepick)

Sam Behr died recently. He was 86. Here in Orlando he was notable for two things.

First, he had a store downtown that sold shoes. The store’s slogan was “We can fit any human!” And they had any number of improbable stories backing it up.

Second, in the 1980s he became a local media celebrity for his work on TV commercials for Allied Discount Tires, a local tire chain, run by a friend of his if I recall correctly.

Here’s a sample of Sam’s work:

Rest in Peace, Sam, and here’s hoping that in the afterlife your nuts always get hand-torqued and never fall off!

UPDATE: I added a link to the local obit above. And according to local legend (which has a grain of truth to it), the ad I embedded above only ran once. I actually saw that one on TV one summer, I’m happy to say! Sam represented a type of garrulous Southern man that has become increasingly rare, sadly.

UPDATE 2: Here’s another piece about Sam and the commercials he did – all unscripted! And here’s probably the most infamous ad he did. Remember Oral Roberts?