Electronics Giant Crazy Eddie Passes At 68

A piece of our collective youth passed away over the weekend as former electronics superstore owner "Crazy Eddie" Antar has died at age 68. If you grew up around here, his TV and radio commercials are burned into your brain.

According to USA Today, Antar passed away over the weekend in New Jersey. No cause of death was given.  Crazy Eddie stores were famous for their low prices on stereo's, VCR's and video games, as well as their over-the-top TV commercials. However, the chain was always shrouded with dishonest practices including money laundering and skimming cash. Antar was convicted of insider trading and securities fraud after the collapse of the chain, and served several years in prison.

For any of us of a certain age, though, the TV and radio commercials are a memorable part of our past. When I started working here at the station, Crazy Eddie commercials were on the air 24-7, and most of my tapes of weekend overnight shifts while working here in college include live "tags" at the end of Crazy Eddie commercials with hourly updates: "Only 11 hours remain until Crazy Eddie's greatest Christmas sale in August EVER! Get to Crazy Eddie, his prices are insane!"

Ironically, the guy that did the Crazy Eddie commercials was not Eddie himself, but a guy named Jerry Carroll.  He became so famous for the commercials that most people thought Carroll was Crazy Eddie himself.

Here's a bunch of the infamous Crazy Eddie commercials.