'Call for Philip Morris' voice silenced

TAMPA, Florida (CNN) -- The second half of a duo famous in American advertising for yelling "Call for Philip Morris" has died.

Albert Altieri, 86, was found dead Sunday in his home here, victim of an apparent heart attack, his brother Ralph told CNN.

Altieri was the second of two pint-sized pitchmen plucked from obscurity to represent the tobacco giant. The first, Johnny Roventini, was working at a New York hotel in 1933 when a Philip Morris exec spotted him and asked him to locate Philip Morris.

The cry, "Call for Philip Morris," became an industry legend and Roventini adopted the name Johnny Morris. He was such a success that, two years later, when company execs at New York's Commodore Hotel spotted Altieri -- who looked a lot like Roventini -- they too asked the page boy to find Philip Morris.

"He thought it was a real man, so he was calling," his brother Ralph said. "They just wanted to see how he projected his voice."

Altieri had been commuting to the hotel near Grand Central Station from Bridgeport, Connecticut, where his father was a barber and his mother a housewife -- both immigrants from Italy.

Philip Morris hired the 3-foot-7-inch 19-year-old as the "Johnny Morris Jr." His job was to cover everything west of the Mississippi.

But soon his territory expanded, as Roventini -- who died in 1998 -- focused on the New York area.

Over the years, Albert was given a succession of red MG sports cars -- "Call for Philip Morris" painted in gold on their doors. For 12 years, Ralph served as his brother's chauffeur and traveling companion through an endless succession of cities and towns. "It was like riding the handle of an egg beater," Ralph said.

Wearing one of his red suits, Albert would hand out free samples, serve as marshal in parades and make appearances at state fairs, and on the radio.

During the war, he sold war bonds and made appearances as a good-will ambassador in Army camps, naval stations and in hospitals -- including Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the Shriner's Burn Center in Springfield, Massachusetts.

"Schoolchildren used to line the street," his brother said.

President Franklin Roosevelt made Altieri an honorary recruiter for the armed forces, and he represented Philip Morris in a USO troupe that traveled through Europe and as a character in "I Love Lucy."

What would he talk about? "Anything," Ralph recalled. "He had a great voice."

Ralph never learned how much money his brother was earning. "All I know is, when mom needed anything, he was there like a handle on a pot. Put me through school and never asked for anything."

Altieri himself never picked up the habit, and in later years appeared to grow uncomfortable with his career. "We used to kid him that he killed more people than Hitler in his ads," his great nephew Sam Capitano said. "He'd laugh about it, but it did bother him."

Still, even after he retired in 1982, he continued to make appearances on behalf of the tobacco maker as a good-will ambassador.

Albert lived with his mother until 1956, when she died. Though he never married, "he loved women," Ralph said.

In recent years, the living trademark told his great nephew Sam that he regretted having traveled so much that it interfered with his ability to form a lasting partnership.

He retired to Tampa, Florida, after 47 years with the company.

"The road can kill you," said his brother Ralph, who married only after he gave up chauffeuring his brother but who continued with the company as a sales executive, retiring in 1985 after 43 years of service.

Altieri is also survived by his brother Carmen.

Altieri's body will be shipped to Bridgeport, where he grew up and where his two brothers still live, for burial. Arrangements for services had not been finalized.