William Talman Anti-Smoking Ad 1968

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.

• Category

  Howto & Style

[soylentteal]

Thanks to both Bill Talman and Yul Brynner for their brutally honest PSAs. No telling how many were saved by them.

[TroyOi]

You can count me among those whom William Talman can claim at least partial credit for saving. I was 13 when his ad came out, and it has stuck with me to this day. It was a powerful message, perhaps his greatest contribution to humanity, and his family should be eternally proud of what he did. I hope it provided a measure of comfort to him as he slipped his earthly bonds. My deepest gratitude, Mr. Talman!

[HassoBen Soba]

Powerful and very sad. The guy was obviously in pain--both physically and spiritually, knowing that he would soon be leaving his beloved family. But judging from the comments below, William Talman's courage helped save a lot of people from his tragic fate.

[Ron Rollo]

This was the most powerful of the anti smoking psas because cigarette commercials were still all over the tv airwaves...it was dramatic at the time seeing this psa dropped in a sea of cigarette advertising

[Deb Strzelecki]

I don't enjoy any Perry Mason episodes where Mr. Talman isn't in as Hamilton. Always impressed me how Perry and Hamilton so respected each other.

Have the VHS of "City That Never Sleeps." Talman is a very creepy villian in that Grade B film noir. The guy sure did earn his srtipes. A very underrated actor.

[bigbass421]

I just watched "Armored Car Robbery" a 1952 film starring Mr. Talman. He was an incredible actor. He was chilling in his portrayal of sociopathic killers, as he was in the iconic Film Noir "The Hitchhiker." In the majority of Film Noir, and almost everywhere in American society- a cigarette accompanied every scene. My dad smoked, and died at only 53, from lung cancer and cardiac arrest, as Mr. Talman did. This ad took a lot of balls to film back then. William Talman, thanks for your courage!

[Robert Bear]

I was a jr in HS and remember this very well. My English lit teacher had the news clipping on his bulletin board and it's stuck with me ever since.

[tj921able]

He puts out the message so well in this PSA. I used to smoke and am proud to say that IS have been smoke-free for 11 years. I would NEVER go back to it because too many of my family members have died from smoking-related cancer. Ty Mr. Talman for bringing this to the fore-front.

[Joseph Bacon]

Mr. Talman wasn't a loser. Many people were saved from lung cancer because they listened to him and either never smoked or quit.

[moviemagg]

I remember watching this commercial on Television when it aired in 1968. I was only eleven years old but the message stayed in my mind for the rest of my life. It's one of the reasons I NEVER smoked and NEVER will! It's amazing to find this ad here on UTube. But then again you can find anything on UTube.

[yoUseF077]

don't be a loser ,don't be a cunt ,these two sentences really motivated me and made me feel like a loser because i'm smoking

[James Hershey]

I'm 61 and I remember this add also. Because of this add, I never picked up the habit.

Both my parents died from smoking related illness.