John Gilchrist embraces portraying Mikey in the Life Cereal Commercials

"Give it toMikey, he hates everything." "Hey Mikey, he likes it."

These words are from the Life Cereal Commercial, where a little boy named Mikey (John Gilchrist) was eating a bowl filled with the product. This was one of the most popular television commercials from the 1970s.

The commercial opens as two older boys, presumably Mikey's siblings, are considering whether they should try a new cereal. They are hesitant, and neither wants to sample this food. They decide to give the bowl to the smaller child seated at the breakfast table.

The boys decide he won’t like it because he hates everything. The duo is surprised when the little boy eats the cereal as if he enjoys it. The announcer then states that everyone will like Life Cereal, even Mikey. This commercial became one of the longest-running continuous television ads ever.

Baby boomers (those born between 1948 and 1964) are now seniors. This generation loves retro and all things that bring fond memories from our childhoods. Boomers also enjoy finding out what happened to their child stars of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s.

Gilchrist's brothers, Mike and Tom, portrayed the boys who gave Mikey the cereal. The commercial was filmed in 1971, which makes it more than a half-century old. There are still people today who refer to finicky children as Mikey.

The Life Cereal commercial ran nationally from 1972 to 1986, and John Gilchrist became famous without saying one word. All he did was pick up a spoon and begin eating and Americans fell in love with him. John and his six siblings all had acting careers as children and have said they made more money in one day than their father made working an entire week.

As an adult, Gilchrist made another Life Cereal commercial but it did not have the same charm as the original.The Life Cereal ad was a big success and increased sales of the product it was promoting.

This particular ad ended up being ranked as the No. 10 television commercial of all time. Still today, little Mikey is brought up in conversation when someone mentions a picky eater. There were rumors some time back that John Gilchrist had passed away but he is alive and well.

Unlike some other child stars, Gilchrist enjoyed his time doing commercials and has over 250 of them to date. He says he has fond memories of his childhood and his acting career, and that he and his siblings used the money they earned from acting for college.

Gilchrist obtained a communications degree from Iona College and works at Madison Square Gardens, where he is a director of media sales. His primary function is to negotiate with TV advertisers, so in a way, he is still in the commercial advertising business.

He lives in Pelham, NY, with his wife and 3 children and continues to enjoy signing autographs for fans. He embraces the commercial that gave him notoriety, which is so different from actors who desire to put childhood behind them.

Some television and movie actors are concerned with being typecast and no longer desire to be associated with the roles that gained them their fame. One example is Alfonso Ribiero who portrayed Carlton Banks on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Ribiero says he refuses to do the Carlton dance because he has been asked so much. Some other entertainers don’t like to be called by the name of a character they portrayed, but John Gilchrist has no problem being referred to as Mikey from the Life Cereal commercial. Boomers think of him fondly the next time you pick up a bowl.