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Ed 'Big Daddy' Roth

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Designer

The Resume

    (March 4, 1932-April 4, 2001)
    Born in Beverly Hills, California
    Car customizer and cartoonist
    Designed the hot rods 'The Outlaw' (1959), 'The Beatnik Bandit' (1961), 'The Mysterion' (1963), 'The Orbitron' (1964) and 'The Road Agent' (1965)
    Created the cartoon character Rat Fink
    Formed the surf/novelty group Mr. Gasser and the Weirdos
    Recorded the albums 'Hot Rod Hootenany,' 'Rods and Rat Finks' and 'Surfink!'

Why he might be annoying:

    He spoke in beatnik jive.
    His cars were not practical, with one automotive museum curator noting, 'The Outlaw runs, but you won't be driving it very far unless you're about three feet tall.'
    The Revell model company ended their association with him when he started hanging out with the Hell's Angels.
    He was married four times.
    He said, 'My fanaticism with cars has just destroyed my personal life. It's an obsession, an addiction. Every day I pray to God, 'Release me from my calling!''

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was introduced to cars and pop culture at a young age, since his dad served as Mary Pickford's chauffeur.
    His contract with Revell gave him a royalty of only one cent for each model sold, but the models based on his cars and characters were so popular that he earned over $30,000 a year in the early 60s.
    When Revell asked him to spruce up a bit before appearing at car shows, he responded by showing up at shows wearing tails, a silk hat and a monocle.
    When Mattel introduced Hot Wheels, his Beatnik Bandit was part of their first group of sixteen cars.
    Tom Wolfe called him 'the most colorful, most intellectual and most capricious' of the customizers and 'the Salvador Dali of the movement.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 4 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 37.50% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 7 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 18 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 15 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 75 Votes: 53.33% Annoying