{"id":5216,"date":"2026-04-09T12:37:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T12:37:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tappyli.com\/?p=5216"},"modified":"2026-04-09T12:37:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T12:37:30","slug":"actor-behind-the-original-geico-caveman-speaks-out-do-you-recognize-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tappyli.com\/?p=5216","title":{"rendered":"Actor behind the original Geico Caveman speaks out \u2013 do you recognize him?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most people find it annoying when ads start popping up while they watch their favorite film or series. The truth is that commercials can be boring, but there are also those that turn iconic. I am sure that everyone is looking forward to the commercials Coca-Cola does before New Year each year as they announce the festivities and boost the holiday spirit.<\/p>\n

Another commercial that reached incredible popularity and a cult status is \u201cThe Caveman\u201d by Geico which was first released back in 2004. It features a caveman and the aim is to sell car insurance. The company was reported to have spent around $600 million on advertising and commercials in 2006, but \u201cThe Caveman\u201d became so popular that the money likely paid off. The agency behind this masterpiece was The Martin Agency, which handled Geico\u2019s advertising for years. As per\u00a0The New York Times,\u00a0<\/em>the agency\u2019s goal has always been to \u201cwrap easy-way-to-save-money pitch in humor on the theory that laugher is almost as universal as lack of interest in car insurance.\u201d<\/p>\n

The creative director, Steve Bassett, said they knew the commercial would be a success but they never expected it to get widespread to that extent.<\/p>\n

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Youtube\/clre78<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The man behind the character of the caveman is actor and producer John Lehr. Of course, his dirty look and greasy hair, along with his creased forehead and Neanderthalish looks were a result of heavy make up. In reality, Lehr is a very handsome man and a father of two.<\/p>\n

His career in the industry had begun before this commercial took place and it all started when Lehr, who worked as a teacher at Kilmer Elementary School in Rogers Park, Chicago, Illinois, decided to do improv shows during the night. During one such performance, he was spotted by a FOX scout who offered him a holding deal with NBC for $15,000.<\/p>\n

This was like a dream come true as it opened the doors to Hollywood for Lehr. Among the rest, he appeared in one episode of the legendary television show\u00a0Friends<\/em>\u00a0in 1996, and starred in 22 episodes of the show\u00a0Jesse\u00a0<\/em>alongside Christina Applegate, with whom he later reunited for the rom-com\u00a0The Sweetest Thing<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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Youtube\/ALTERIANINC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

In 2004, Lehr was offered to audition for \u201cThe Caveman,\u201d and he didn\u2019t expect much from it. \u201cI thought, \u2018Huh, okay.\u2019 I didn\u2019t think much about it. Went in, did it. They let me improvise,\u201d Lehr recalled in an interview with\u00a0Chicago Now<\/em>. \u201cI think that\u2019s what got me the job. It was really fascinating and fun and paid my bills.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once he was chosen to be The Caveman, Lehr\u2019s character became sort of a celebrity. All of a sudden everyone spoke of the commercial.<\/p>\n

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Dimitrios Kambouris\/WireImage<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the perfect job for somebody like me, a character actor, because I make a lot of money on these commercials and nobody knows it\u2019s me,\u201d he told\u00a0Interviewing Hollywood.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt kind of fit with my sense of humor, in that it\u2019s kind of, you play it for real but it\u2019s totally absurd, which is basically my cup of tea. And it worked out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m stunned\u2026I mean, it\u2019s huge! My wife just recently googled GEICO caveman blogs, and it\u2019s unbelievable,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a whole bunch of people out there who are fascinated with these commercials.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Instagram\/johnlehr<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The commercial took Lehr\u2019s career to a completely new level. He even made it to the Oscars, but not as himself. Instead, he was all dressed up as The Caveman.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey sent me to the Oscars in full makeup and cast a babe model to be my date on the Red Carpet,\u201d he recalled in an interview with\u00a0Forbes.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe funny thing was that all the stars wanted to take pictures with me. Gary Busey, John Voight, all of them. And this gorgeous actress comes up and starts hitting on me. I drop character and say, \u2018You realize I\u2019m not really a caveman. I\u2019m an actor with hair glued on, and I\u2019m married. She goes, \u2018I don\u2019t care. Let\u2019s have sex.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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Marsaili McGrath\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Today, Lehr owns a production company, the\u00a0Howler Monkey Productions<\/em>, and besides being an actor, he also works as a producer.<\/p>\n

Lehr is happily married to wife Jennifer Lehr with whom he has a son and a daughter.<\/p>\n

Do you remember this iconic commercial? If yes, please SHARE this article with your family and friends on Facebook!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Most people find it annoying when ads start popping up while they watch their favorite film or series. The truth is that commercials can be boring, but there are also those that turn iconic. I am sure that everyone is looking forward to the commercials Coca-Cola does before New Year each year as they announce […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5185,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappyli.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappyli.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappyli.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappyli.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappyli.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5216"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tappyli.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5216\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5217,"href":"https:\/\/tappyli.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5216\/revisions\/5217"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappyli.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tappyli.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappyli.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tappyli.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}