William Talman Anti-Smoking Ad 1968
January 31, 2010
This was the first of the celebrity “don’t smoke” appeals. Bill Talman played the DA on “Perry Mason” and was under very heavy medication at the time this was filmed (six weeks before his death), The ad didn’t even start running until after his death, so the effect was even more profound.
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25 Responses to “William Talman Anti-Smoking Ad 1968”
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Start smoking then. Are you from the tobacco lobby?
@ryoushii So do I,
Don’t figure out my age, LOL.
Happy New Year.
If smoking is terrible, how would you define abortion?
I remember that commercial when it aired.
Bill Talman was a great actor-the best picture he ever made was The Hitch-Hiker which you can watch full-length on YouTube-He was absolutely terrifying as a cold-blooded killer. More importantly he was a very brave man to have done this PSA-he had to have known his days were numbered and probably wanted to save others from the same terrible fate.
This ad reminds me of how cigarettes took out a lot of fine actors in their fifties (or so) in smoking-related illnesses. Humphrey Bogart, Gary Cooper, Robert Taylor, Clark Gable, Dick Powell (although his cancer might have been caused by radiation-tainted dirt on a location), Jack Carson, Zachary Scott.
My great-aunt smoked for over thirty years and had to get treatment for cancer. Thankfully, she’s recovered and can’t even stand the smell of smoke anymore.
It’s really sad when you see how little Bill’s youngest kids were when he died.
I’m from Canada, and when I was in New York, I tried to cough away so much smoke from the people smoking right outside the buildings. Here, it’s illegal to do that so close.
I’m So Sorry for all the people you lost, especially your mom. Smoking is a terrible thing.
I’m proud of you Duke for quitting. I never smoked in my life and i never ever will.
And ban smoking EVERYWHERE, indoors and out. Currently, 65,000 INNOCENT Americans die each year because they were exposed to toxic tobacco smoke, the mother of all chemical weapons!
hahahahaha
if you genuinely want to stop smoking i fully recommend visiting trendycig . co . uk and use the half price code – HPT92009
I quit many years ago, before patches and clinics. It is easier than the people who sell these things would have you believe. Believe in yourself, check out the free advice from the American Cancer Society, and get smoke free. It’s a clean, refreshing life.
Thanks to both Bill Talman and Yul Brynner for their brutally honest PSAs. No telling how many were saved by them.
The bottom line is, people who smoke are either weak or dumb. If you can stop and don’t, YOU’RE DUMB. If you want to stop and can’t—WEAK. With every puff, you’re killing your body. Why not just drink DRANO it’s quicker.
This was the best and most heartwrenching anti-smoking ad ever on TV!
All these years later, I remember seeing this ad on TV, I was 9 at the time. It affected me profoundly. Many members of my family have died from cancer, the closest to me being my dear mother, who smoked 60 years and died of lung cancer weighing only 66 pounds.
Thank you for posting this.
The last words..”Or You’ll lose your family”..Mr.Talman
didn’t say those words..I did..but..he could have..because
sadly,his family lost him and I lost my mom 32 years
ago.
So..I say to all of you..who are even contemplating the need
to smoke a cigarette…I’ll say this”I’ve loss my mother to
smoking and losing your family is to precious a commondity
..As Mr.Talman said If you don’t smoke don’t start..If you
smoke quit! ..Or you’ll your family!”
Sadly,19 years later..my mother died of spine and lung
cancer.(The cancer spread from her backbone to her lung
at a fast rate..due to the years that she smoked those
damn Salems).
Me too (I was a little older, but yeah) — and very well said.
I remember how striking this ad was at the time — and it still is.
I remember seeing this ad when I was 13….It was powerful then….it is just as powerful now. This is the best antismoking ad that I have EVER seen. Mr Tallman had a lot of guts to make this ad. Thank you for sharing.
Thank You!