DEATHIVERSARY: ORVILLE REDENBACHER (July 16, 1907 – September 19, 1995) reminds me of spending summers as a kid in Denton, Texas watching the Golden Girls with my grandparents and snacking on Orville Redenbacher popcorn. I’d stand over the stove with my grandma watching Redenbacher’s face expand on the popping pan. Redenbacher was a food scientist who became an “agricultural visionary who single-handedly revolutionized the American popcorn industry.” He became a cultural icon by appearing as his company's official spokesman, wearing a trademark outfit in public that included horn-rimmed glasses and a bow tie. I hadn’t thought about him in forever and was surprised to learn how he died. On September 19, 1995, Redenbacher was found dead in the Jacuzzi of his condominium in Coronado, California. He had suffered a heart attack and drowned. On the September 23, 1995, edition of Siskel & Ebert, Ebert eulogized Redenbacher by calling him "a man who took popcorn seriously, as seriously as we take the movies." Siskel added that Redenbacher “he was a scientist who came up with a new strain of popcorn that really kept that whole industry alive… that's a real contribution” to the movies.
