How old is cal worthington

Depending on the commercial, Spot might be an elephant or a hippo or a killer whale that Worthington was riding. Or a snake he was wrestling. Or a bear he was roller skating with. In one memorable commercial Spot was a mountain lion that tried to take his arm off when he went to pet the animal. And though he may not have stood upon his head until his ears were turning red, the decorated World War II pilot did on occasion strap himself to an old-time biplane and have it fly upside down while the cameras rolled.

During all of these stunts, a catchy little jingle -- actually a frenetic, banjo-driven version of the children's song "If You're Happy And You Know It," would play nonstop, with the lyrics changed to something like this: "If you need a better car, go see Cal. For the best deal by far, go see Cal. Buy a new car for your wife. Skip to content. Local Local news from across Southern California.

NBC4 I-Team 3 hours ago. LAPD 8 hours ago. Lungren commented on how Worthington died — during halftime watching one of his favorite teams, the San Francisco 49ers, play the Green Bay Packers. Cal Worthington, who was not married at the time of his death, had been married four times. Contact the writer: or kablaza ocregister. Show Caption. He was among the first bomber pilots to lead daytime raids over Berlin. After the war, he applied to be a pilot with the major commercial airlines but was rejected because he lacked a college degree.

He began buying cars, fixing them up and then selling them from a dirt parking lot near the local post office. After a few months of sales success, he knew he would be a car salesman. By , Worthington had made enough money to buy a car dealership in Huntington Park.

The ads caught the eye of Hollywood. In the s, and during the energy crunch of the mid-'70s, he tried to boost sagging sales by giving live Southern California traffic updates from a helicopter.

And for a short time, he even sold motorized pogo sticks. In , Worthington divorced his wife of 37 years, Barbara, and married Susan Henning, an actress and model. The second marriage ended in a bitter divorce seven years later. In the early s, he left his Southern California headquarters in Long Beach and moved his operations to his 24,acre Big W Ranch and office complex in Orland. In , Worthington married disc jockey Bonnie Reese, about 40 years his junior.