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John Moschitta Jr. (born August 6, 1954), also known as "Motormouth" John Moschitta, "John Mosquita" and The Fast-Talking Guy, is an American actor, singer and spokesman. He is best known for his rapid speech delivery. He appeared in over 100 commercials as "The Micro Machines Guy" and in a 1981 ad for
FedEx FedEx Corporation, originally known as Federal Express Corporation, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate holding company specializing in Package delivery, transportation, e-commerce, and ...
. He provided the voice for Blurr in '' The Transformers: The Movie'' (1986), '' The Transformers'' (1986–1987), '' Transformers: Animated'' (2008–2009) and two direct-to-video films. Born in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
to an Italian-American family, Moschitta had been credited by
Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...
as the World's Fastest Talker, with the ability to articulate 586 words per minute. His record was broken in 1990 by Steve Woodmore, who spoke 637 words per minute and then by Sean Shannon, who spoke 655 words per minute on August 30, 1995. However, Moschitta questions the legitimacy of those who claim to be faster than he is.


Career


FedEx commercial

In 1981, Moschitta appeared on the ABC TV series '' That's Incredible!'', where he recited the lyrics from " Ya Got Trouble" from '' The Music Man''. The appearance led to many other television offers, such as '' The Tonight Show'' and '' The Merv Griffin Show''. Also, after seeing the show, Patrick Kelly and Michael Tesch, employees of the Ally & Gargano ad agency, hired Moschitta to appear in a
FedEx FedEx Corporation, originally known as Federal Express Corporation, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate holding company specializing in Package delivery, transportation, e-commerce, and ...
commercial; the package-delivery company was then still known by its original name, Federal Express. In the ad, "Fast Paced World", directed by Joe Sedelmaier, Moschitta played a fast-talking executive named Jim Spleen. The commercial garnered six Clio Awards, including Best Performance–Male award for Moschitta and earned him the nickname "Motormouth". Turn-of-the-century polls named it the Most Effective Campaign in the History of Advertising and named Moschitta the Most Effective Spokesperson. The 40th-anniversary issue of ''
New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Clay Felker and Milton Glaser in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'' a ...
'' (October 6, 2008) listed it as number one in "The Most Memorable Advertisements Madison Avenue Ever Sold." ''
Advertising Age ''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in ...
'' ranked the ad number 11 among its "Top 100 Campaigns" in March 1999. According to Moschitta, he did 29 flawless takes of the final scene of the commercial, prompting the director to remark that he is "like a machine" who never makes mistakes. In response, Moschitta deliberately fumbled on a line, which was ultimately the take that was used in the final cut.


Other television work

He was a contestant on ''Pyramid'' in the 1970s and then was a production assistant on ''Pyramid'' producer Bob Stewart's game show ''Shoot for the Stars'' in 1977 and later played two weeks of ''Pyramid'' as a celebrity, one in 1983 and one in 1988. In addition to his commercials for Federal Express, Moschitta completed over 750 television and radio commercials, including national campaigns for Minute Rice, Quality Inn,
Northwest Airlines Northwest Airlines (often abbreviated as NWA) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1926 until it Delta Air Lines–Northwest Airlines merger, merged with Delta Air Lines in 2010. The merger made Delta the largest airline ...
, Olympus Camera,
Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company headquartered in El Segundo, California. Founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth Handler, ...
, Post Cereals, Tiger Games, Continental Airlines,
Burger King Burger King Corporation (BK, stylized in all caps) is an American multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacks ...
, ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS,
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
, Micro Machines and JetBlue. Moschitta also appeared in a number of movies and television shows. For example, he voiced the character of Blurr in '' The Transformers: The Movie'', and reprised the character on '' Transformers Animated''. Moschitta has been an announcer on two television game shows: '' Hollywood Squares'' and '' Balderdash''. In 2016, Moschitta appeared on an episode of ''Superhuman'' on FOX as a part of the challenge "Fast Car" in which he rapidly explained the various prices of three different vehicles to mental calculator Mike Byster, who had to calculate the sticker prices of each one correctly. The episode aired on June 26, 2017.


Audio recordings

In 1986, Moschitta recorded a spoken-word album entitled ''Ten Classics in Ten Minutes''. In this recording, Moschitta summarizes ten classic literary tales in one minute each. The collection includes stories such as
Herman Melville Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works ar ...
's ''
Moby-Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 Epic (genre), epic novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is centered on the sailor Ishmael (Moby-Dick), Ishmael's narrative of the maniacal quest of Captain Ahab, Ahab, captain of the whaler ...
'';
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's ''
Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...
''; F. Scott Fitzgerald's '' The Great Gatsby''; Margaret Mitchell's '' Gone with the Wind''; and John Steinbeck's '' The Grapes of Wrath''.


Selected filmography


Film

* '' Young Doctors in Love'' (1982) — Complaining man * '' Starchaser: The Legend of Orin'' (1985) — Z'Gork (voice) * '' The Transformers: The Movie'' (1986) — Blurr (voice) * '' Going Under'' (1990) — Defense Contractor (as John Moschitta) * '' Dick Tracy'' (1990) — Radio Announcer * '' Blankman'' (1994) — Mr. Crudd * '' John Bronco'' (2020) — Himself


Television

* '' Nickel Flicks'' (1979) — Host * '' Madame's Place'' (1982) — Larry Lunch * '' Matt Houston'' (1983) — Myron Chase * '' The Transformers'' (1986–1987) — Punch / Blurr / Blowpipe (voice) (as John Moschitta) * ''
Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...
'' (1989) — Porter Pepper of Peter Piper "P" Products, a new baby with names from the alphabet * '' Saved by the Bell'' (1989) — George Testaverde * '' Mathnet'' (1991) — Johnny Dollar * '' Garfield and Friends'' (1992) — Super Sonic Seymour (voice) * '' Pinky and the Brain'' (1997) — Kurt Sackett (voice) * '' Hollywood Squares'' (2003–2004) — Announcer * '' Balderdash'' (2004–2005) — Announcer * '' Robot Chicken'' (2007–2012) — Elrond, Azmuth, auctioneer, NASA crew member, hostage, Micro Machines Man, Trap-Jaw (voice) * '' Transformers: Animated'' (2008–2009) — Blurr (voice) * ''
Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...
'' episode: " Fox-y Lady" (2009) - FedEx Guy (voice) * '' Adventure Time'' (2010) — Key-per (voice) * '' Oddities'' (2013) — Himself


See also

* Fran Capo, fastest female speaker * Tachylalia, term for extremely rapid speech


References


Further reading

* * *


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Moschitta, John, Jr. 1954 births Living people 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors American male film actors American male television actors American male voice actors American people of Italian descent Contestants on American game shows Game show announcers Male actors from New York City