Founder of Perdue Chicken, Frank Perdue Dies at 84

[Janice]

Frank Perdue Dies at 84 After Illness



Frank Perdue, shown here in 1987, is credited with
being the first to advertise chickens by brand.

SALISBURY, Md. (April 1) - Frank Perdue, who transformed a backyard egg business into one of the nation's largest poultry processors using the folksy slogan, ''It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken,'' has died.

He died Thursday after a brief illness, Perdue Farms Inc. said Friday. He was 84.

At the time of his death, Perdue was chairman of the executive committee of the board of directors of Perdue Farms, based in Salisbury.

His tough, folksy TV persona helped boost sales from $56 million in 1970 to more than $1.2 billion by 1991.

He had taken to the airwaves in 1971, and the company was credited with being the first to advertise chickens by brand.

Perdue turned the reins over to his son, Jim, in 1991.

Frank Perdue's father, Arthur W. Perdue, started the family business in 1920, raising chickens for eggs. Perdue and his father switched the business from eggs to chickens in the 1940s and broke into retail sales in 1968.

In a 1991 interview, Perdue described his father as a stern man who was so thrifty that he saved leather from old shoes to make hinges for the doors to the chicken houses.

An only child of older parents, Perdue was a shy boy who spent much of his time working on the family egg farm. His dream was to play professional baseball, but he said he ''gathered more splinters than hits'' on the Salisbury State Teachers College team. After graduation in 1939 he returned to the farm in Salisbury.

His love for the game, however, later prompted him to invest in a minor league franchise in his native Salisbury.

In building his poultry business, Perdue was the consummate entrepreneur and workaholic, who would put in 18 hours a day and get by on three or four hours' sleep. He had a cot in his office and often spent the night there, even though his home was 50 yards away.

Perdue Farms' expansion in the 1970s was rapid, but it also sowed the seeds of worker discontent. The company opened new plants in rural, often poor areas of the South, where labor was cheap and government regulations lax.

Inevitably, union activism sprung up, which Perdue sought to suppress.

In 1986, Perdue told to a presidential commission that he had twice unsuccessfully sought help from a reputed New York crime boss to put down union activities, actions he later said he regretted deeply.

In the late 1980s, reports of repetitive motion injuries rose rapidly in the industry among workers who performed the same handling, sorting and cutting tasks all day.

The company paid $40,000 in fines to North Carolina in 1989 after a report found 36 percent of workers in two plants had symptoms of wrist trauma known as carpal tunnel syndrome. In 1991, the company agreed to establish a four-year program to reduce injuries, including job rotations, rest and exercise periods and automation equipment.

Under Jim Perdue's leadership, the company has been establishing full service health care centers in its plants.

Frank Perdue began facing pickets at his public appearances from animal rights activists after his appointment in January 1991 to the Board of Regents of the University of Maryland system.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals claimed farmers raising chickens for Perdue kept them in cramped cages and their beaks had to be clipped to prevent them from pecking each other to death.

The company insisted its chickens roamed freely in well-ventilated coops and said their beaks were trimmed because chickens naturally go after each other.

Associates said Perdue never spent much time worrying about his critics, but he was never comfortable with his fame.

For years, he refused to advertise in the Baltimore and Washington areas to lower his profile at home.

Perdue is survived by his wife, Mitzi Ayala Perdue; four children, Sandra Spedden of Cambridge, Md., Anne Oliviero of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, Beverly Nida of Midlothian, Va., and Jim Perdue of Salisbury, Md.; two stepchildren Jose Ayala and Carlos Ayala; and 12 grandchildren.

[Brian Damage]

I remember growing up watching his commercials. Like his son, he was the spokesperson for the company. He seemed like a personable guy. Now he can be in Heaven hanging out with Col. Sanders.

[Georgia's on my Mind]

omg im going to cry

[barwars]

Tyson is better.

[TJL]

I remember the commercials.

RIP.

[musicradio77]

From the Daily News:

Chicken Entrepreneur Frank Perdue Dies

By FOSTER KLUG
Associated Press Writer

BALTIMORE (AP) -- Frank Perdue, the folksy CEO who turned his father's backyard egg business into one of the world's biggest chicken companies by appearing in TV commercials that featured his remarkably bird-like face, has died. He was 84.

He died Thursday after a brief illness, the company said Friday.

Perdue was one of the first CEOs to pitch his own product on television in 1971, turning on the down-home charm as he delivered his famous line, "It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken."

Perdue remained the company's public face for the next two decades, helping build an empire that now employs 20,000 associates and partners with 7,500 independent farm families. The company went from annual sales of $56 million in 1970 to $2.8 billion in 2003.

Until the late 1990s, Perdue was regularly ranked in Forbes' list of 400 richest Americans. In 1997, it ranked him 214th and estimated his net worth at $825 million.

Perdue's rise was extraordinary, considering the company's humble beginnings. Perdue's father, Arthur W. Perdue, started the family business in 1920, raising chickens for eggs. Perdue and his father switched the business from eggs to chickens in the 1940s and broke into retail sales in 1968.

"A lot of corporate America could take a lesson from Frank Perdue, a man who started out selling chickens from an ice chest in the back of his truck," said John Boyd, president of the National Black Farmers Association, who sold chickens to Perdue for 13 years. "We didn't always agree, but he was a good business man, he was fair, and he was responsive to the needs of his growers."

At the time of his death, Perdue was chairman of the executive committee of the board of directors of Maryland-based Perdue Farms. He had handed over control of the company to his son, Jim, in 1991.

In building his poultry business, Perdue was the consummate entrepreneur and workaholic, who would put in 18 hours a day and get by on three or four hours' sleep. He had a cot in his office and often spent the night there, even though his home was 50 yards away.

Perdue, whose prominent nose, small dark eyes, thin lips and high-pitched voice gave him the impression of a chicken, said he was initially uncertain about whether to take to the airwaves. He said a New York ad man persuaded him to run his own commercials, but also gave Perdue a warning.

"He said, 'If you do this, you're going to have some heartaches from it. You're going to have people yelling at you or maybe screaming at you or criticizing you, but I think it's the best way to sell a superior chicken, which I think you have,'" Perdue said in a 1991 interview with The Associated Press.

"It was quite a shock to my nervous system because I'd never been in a school play or anything and I'm basically reticent about speaking in public," said Perdue, who ultimately did 156 different ads.

Perdue Farms' expansion in the 1970s was rapid, but it also sowed the seeds of worker discontent. The company opened new plants in rural, often-poor areas of the South, where labor was cheap. Inevitably, union activism sprang up, which Perdue sought to suppress.

In 1986, Perdue admitted to a presidential commission that he had twice unsuccessfully sought help from reputed New York crime boss Paul Castellano to put down union activities, actions he later said he regretted deeply.

In the late 1980s, reports of repetitive motion injuries rose rapidly in the industry among workers who performed the same handling, sorting and cutting tasks all day. In 1991, the company agreed to establish a four-year program to reduce injuries.

Perdue was born in Salisbury in 1920, the only child of older parents. He was a shy boy who spent much of his time working on the family egg farm. His dream was to play professional baseball, but he said he "gathered more splinters than hits" on the team at Salisbury State Teachers College, from which he graduated in 1939.

Perdue's loyalty to his hometown remained throughout his life. He was heavily involved in civic activities and gave an endowment to his alma mater, now Salisbury University, to establish the Perdue School of Business.

Perdue is survived by his third wife, Mitzi Ayala Perdue, four children, two stepchildren and 12 grandchildren.

[TripperFan]

Hey - don't freak just yet folks. This COULD be an April Fools joke. As I recall, I think it was maybe even last April Fools, somebody posted a news report about this exactly saying he was dead. I remember him having to call a press conference to let everyone know he was alive!! And he was even making those commercials still last year.

I'm not saying your sources are bad Janice, just I might check on it - cuz it could possibly be another joke. (Either that, or it looks like Frank might have got the last laugh on his buddies) !

[TJL]

I'm pretty sure he's dead. It was on the news.

Frank Perdue stopped doing the commercials when he retired in 1991. His son Jim does all the TV ads now. I think you might be getting the two Perdues mixed up Tripperfan.

[TripperFan]

Yeah, I'm sorry - I realized that too when I started reading the article in depth. Guess it is Jim I've been watching (and like too - he and his dad seem similar).

That's too bad then. I swear there was something though a while ago and I remember it being some joke played (?)