Mainer Famous for Flub of ‘Buttery Flaky Crust’ Has Died

Jack Palmer from Hermon, Maine, who couldn't say "buttery, flaky crust", has passed.

He will have a place in the hearts of not only Mainers, but nearly seven million people who watched the outtakes of the famous Dysart’s commercial. Jack was 86 years old.

If you don't remember (or haven't seen the video), Jack tried to say 'buttery, flaky crust' to talk about Dysart's amazing chicken pot pie. But the words just weren't coming.

Jack Palmer, according to an article in the Portland Press Herald, was a regular at the Dysart’s in Hermon. The director of the now-famous commercial (and more famous outtakes), Ric Taylor of Sutherland Weston Marketing Communications, told the Press Herald,

I think they became the celebrities they are by being genuine, by being just a typical couple. Jack was rather deaf from his years of working in the print room at the Bangor Daily News, and if you look at the outtakes, you can see Sonya kicking him under the table when it was time to say the lines. She was also mouthing the lines herself, willing him to get them right.

That's why we loved them so much. Because they were real, with a love and genuineness only found in Mainers.

You know you've made it when SNL does a parody.

Saturday Night Live parodied the commercial when the outtake video hit five million views. Will Ferrell played Jack, and Kate McKinnon played Sonya. Since it was SNL, the director in the skit wanted the couple to say "baked in a crispy pastry crust." That turned into:

• "Crispy pastry phlegm."
• "Baked in my bra."
• "Baked on my crabby butt."

They both got free coffee at Dysart's as a thank-you for making the place famous.

Our hearts go out to Jack's wife of 65 years, Sonya. There will be no services, at his request. Thank you for filling our lives with laughter, Sonya and Jack.