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Jim Varney

Born James Albert Varney Jr.
June 15, 1949(1949-06-15)
Lexington, Kentucky
Died February 10, 2000 (aged 50)
White House, Tennessee
Years active 1976 - 2000

James Albert Varney Jr. Events 763 BC - Assyrians record a Solar eclipse that will be used to fix the Chronology of Mesopotamian history Year 1949 ( MCMXLIX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Lexington (officially Lexington-Fayette Urban County is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 68th largest in the United States. Events 1355 - The St Scholastica's Day riot breaks out in Oxford, England, leaving 63 scholars and perhaps 30 locals dead 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. White House is a city in Robertson and Sumner counties in the U The year 1976 in film involved some significant events Events March 22 - Filming begins on George Lucas ' The year 2000 in film involved some significant events Events Top grossing films Please note that following the tradition of the (June 15, 1949 – February 10, 2000) was an American actor. Events 763 BC - Assyrians record a Solar eclipse that will be used to fix the Chronology of Mesopotamian history Year 1949 ( MCMXLIX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1355 - The St Scholastica's Day riot breaks out in Oxford, England, leaving 63 scholars and perhaps 30 locals dead 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the An actor, actress, player or thespian (see terminology) is a person who Acts in a Dramatic production and who works He was best known for his character Ernest P. Worrell, originally created by Nashville advertising agency Carden and Cherry in the 1980s. Ernest P Worrell was a fictional character portrayed by American actor Jim Varney in a series of Television commercials and later in a television series Advertising is a form of Communication that typically attempts to persuade potential Customers to Purchase or to consume more of a particular Brand The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. The character was used in numerous television commercial campaigns and movies in the following years, giving him fame worldwide. He is best known for his slapstick style and his portrayal of "redneck" stereotypes in a friendly, approachable way. Slapstick is a type of Comedy involving exaggerated physical violence or activities which exceed the boundaries of common sense such as a character being hit in the face with Redneck refers to a Stereotype of usually Rural, Caucasian (i

Contents

Early life

Varney was born in Lexington, Kentucky, where he grew up. Lexington (officially Lexington-Fayette Urban County is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 68th largest in the United States. He began his interest in theater as a teenager, winning state titles in drama competitions while a student at Lafayette High School (which he graduated from with the class of 1968) in Lexington. Year 1968 ( MCMLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. He attended Murray State College at the age of 15 where he portrayed Ebenezer Scrooge in a local theater production, and by 17, he was performing professionally in nightclubs and coffee houses. Ebenezer Scrooge is the Main character in Charles Dickens ' 1843 Novel, A Christmas Carol. A nightclub (or "night club" or "club" is a drinking, dancing, and entertainment venue which does its primary business after dark He listed a former teacher, Thelma Beeler, as being one of the main contributing factors in his becoming an actor.

Television commercial career

The first commercial as Ernest, filmed in 1980, was to advertise an appearance by the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders at Beech Bend Park, an amusement park located near Bowling Green, Kentucky. Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (DCC a National Football League Cheerleading squad from Texas, is one of the most famous cheerleading organizations Beech Bend Park is an Amusement park, Campground and Automobile Race track located in Warren County Kentucky, United States Theme park is the generic term for a collection of rides and other Entertainment attractions assembled for the purpose of entertaining a large group Bowling Green is the fourth-most populous City in the US state of Kentucky after Louisville, Lexington and Owensboro The character was franchised for use in markets all over the country, and was often used by dairies to advertise milk products. A dairy is a facility for the extraction and processing of animal Milk &mdashmostly from goats or cows, but also from buffalo, Sheep For example, the Midwestern dairy bar chain Braum's ran several advertisements using Ernest's catch phrase, "KnoWhutImean, Vern?" (as it was spelled in his registered trademark). Braum's Ice Cream and Dairy Stores is a family-owned and operated chain of fast-food restaurants based in Oklahoma City Oklahoma. A catch phrase (or catchphrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance Purity Dairies, based in Nashville, and Oakhurst Dairy in Maine ran commercials that were nearly identical, but with the dairy name changed. Purity Dairies is a Nashville, Tennessee, based Dairy company operated by the Ezell family

For the same agency, Varney created a different character, "Sgt. Glory", a humorless drill instructor who harangued cows of the client's dairy into producing better milk. A drill instructor (or Drill Sergeant) is a Non-commissioned officer in the Armed forces with specific duties that vary by country A dairy is a facility for the extraction and processing of animal Milk &mdashmostly from goats or cows, but also from buffalo, Sheep Milk is an opaque white liquid produced by the Mammary glands of female Mammals (including Monotremes. In another spot, Glory's home was shown as he had a date, and was so heavily decorated with the products of the sponsor and advertising specialty items for it that it was essentially devoid of any other decor. The Sgt. Glory character also appeared in an advertisement for a southern grocery chain, Pruitt's Food Town, in which he's drilling the checkout clerks on proper behavior. ("Bread on top. Repeat: Bread on top. ") He approaches one of them at the end of the commercial with a look of menace and says, "You're not smilin'. " The checkout bagger gives a very nervous and forced smile.

Varney also starred as Ernest in a series of commercials that ran in the New Orleans area, and throughout the Gulf South, as a spokesman for natural gas utilities. New Orleans (nʲuːˈɔrliənz nʲuːˈɔrlənz French: La Nouvelle-Orléans) is a major United States port city and the largest city in Louisiana Natural gas is a Gaseous Fossil fuel consisting primarily of Methane but including significant quantities of Ethane, Propane, In one, he is seen kneeling down in front of Vern's desk under a lamp hanging from the ceiling, stating "bang my buttocks, Vern; it's hot, fast and cheap. Hot, fast, cheap; kinda like your first wife, Vern, you know, the pretty one!?" Vern then knocked the lamp into Ernest's head, knocking him down. Those same TV ads were also featured on TV channels in the St. Louis area for Laclede Gas, during the mid-1980s. The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989.

He was also noted for doing commercials for car dealerships across the country, most notably Cerritos Auto Square in Cerritos, California, Tyson's Toyota in Tysons Corner, Virginia, and Audubon Chrysler in Henderson, Kentucky. The Cerritos Auto Square is an Automobile Retail center located in the city of Cerritos California. Cerritos (formerly known as Dairy Valley) is a Charter city in Los Angeles County California, United States, and is one of several cities that Tysons Corner is an Unincorporated area in Fairfax County, Virginia, near Washington D [1] Another favorite Ernest vehicle was promotions for various TV stations around the nation, including the news team and the weather departments.

Varney also portrayed another character, "Auntie Nelda", in numerous commercials long before he resurrected the character for the movies Dr. Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom Beam, Ernest Goes to Jail and Ernest Goes to Camp. Dr Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom Beam is a 1986 Comedy film starring Jim Varney. Ernest Goes to Jail is a 1990 Disney film directed by John R Cherry III and starring Jim Varney. Ernest Goes to Camp is a 1987 Comedy film directed by John R Cherry III and starring Jim Varney. Dressed in drag and appearing to be a senior-citizen, the commercials gave off the tone of a motherly lady encouraging you to do what was right - in this case, buy whatever product was being promoted. This character, along with the "Ernest" character, ran a couple of years in Mississippi and Louisiana in commercials for Ledco Aluminum Siding, a company that would come out and give you an estimate for placing aluminum siding on your home. Ledco often bought 2 hour slots in local markets. During the 2 hour slot, a movie was televised and Varney, as one of his characters, and a Ledco representative, would be the only commercial breaks during the movie to promote Ledco. [2]

During the 1990s, Jim reprised his role as Ernest for Blake's Lotaburger, a fast food chain in New Mexico. The 1990s collectively refers to the years between and including 1990 and 1999 Blake's Lotaburger (often shortened to either Blake's or Lotaburger) is a New Mexico Fast food chain based in Albuquerque and consisting During these commercials, Ernest would typically be trying to get in to Vern's house to see what food Vern was eating. After a lengthy description of whatever tasty morsel Vern had, Ernest would get locked out, but continue to shout from outside.

An interesting fact about the commercials is how universal they were. For example, the dairy spots would be the same situation and script, changing only the name of the dairy. The same situations would be used (varying the script for the product, but resulting in the same punchline) for countless other products. The end result was that a finite number of commercials could sell a wide variety of products. However, all the commercials were not based on those cookie-cutter premises, and original commercials were shot for specific products/sponsors.

Ernest's popularity

Varney's character Ernest P. Worrell proved so popular that it was spun off into a TV series, Hey Vern, It's Ernest! and a series of movies in the 1980s and 1990s. Ernest P Worrell was a fictional character portrayed by American actor Jim Varney in a series of Television commercials and later in a television series A television program (US television programme (UK or television show (U Hey Vern It's Ernest! is an Emmy -award winning American children's television program. The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. The 1990s collectively refers to the years between and including 1990 and 1999 Ernest Goes to Camp earned Varney a nomination for "Worst New Star" at the 1987 Golden Raspberry Awards (he "lost"), however the movie was a huge hit, grossing $25 million at the box office. Ernest Goes to Camp is a 1987 Comedy film directed by John R Cherry III and starring Jim Varney. Events January 31 - The Cure for Insomnia premieres at The School of the Art Institute in Chicago Illinois, to

Other Ernest movies included Ernest Saves Christmas, Slam Dunk Ernest, Ernest Goes to Jail, Ernest Goes to Africa, Ernest Rides Again, Ernest Goes to School, Ernest Scared Stupid, and Ernest in the Army. Ernest Saves Christmas is a 1988 Touchstone Pictures Comedy film directed by John R Slam Dunk Ernest is a 1995 Comedy film, the eighth full-length feature film starring Jim Varney as Ernest P Ernest Goes to Jail is a 1990 Disney film directed by John R Cherry III and starring Jim Varney. Ernest Goes to Africa is a 1997 Comedy film written and directed by John R Ernest Rides Again is a 1993 Comedy film written and directed by John R Ernest Goes to School is a 1994 Comedy film written and directed by Coke Sams and starring Jim Varney. Ernest Scared Stupid is a 1991 Touchstone Pictures Comedy film directed by John R Ernest in the Army is a 1998 Comedy film directed by John R Cherry III and starring Jim Varney. The Walt Disney World Resort's Epcot theme park featured Ernest. Walt Disney World Resort is the most visited and largest recreational resort in the world containing four Theme parks two Water parks twenty-three themed hotels Epcot is a Theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort. The park is dedicated to international Culture and technological Innovation. Epcot's Cranium Command attraction used the Ernest character in its preshow as an example of a "lovable but not the brightest person on the planet" type of person. Cranium Command is an attraction at the Wonders of Life pavilion at Walt Disney World Resort 's Epcot Theme park. And in addition to his Ernest Goes to. . . series, he starred as Ernest in several smaller movies for Carden & Cherry such as Hey Vern! It's My Family Album, Dr. Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom Beam, and Your World as I See It, all of which showcased his great facility with assuming a wide variety of characters and accents. Dr Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom Beam is a 1986 Comedy film starring Jim Varney.

Non-"Ernest" work

Varney played a recurring guest on faux late-night-talk show Fernwood 2 Night

He also lent his voice to the character "Slinky Dog" in Disney's Toy Story film series, and to the character "Cookie" Farnsworth, from Atlantis: The Lost Empire, which was released the year after his death. Fernwood 2 Night (or Fernwood Tonight) is a comedic Television program created by Norman Lear as a Spin-off This is a list of characters from the animated films Toy Story, Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3. Toy Story is a 1995 American computer-generated Comedy film, directed by John Lasseter and starring Tom Hanks Atlantis The Lost Empire is the 40th Disney Animated feature produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney

Varney provided the guest voice for the carny character "Cooder" for "Bart Carny" episode of The Simpsons. Carny or Carnie is a Slang term for a carnival ( Funfair) employee A carny is anyone who runs a "joint" (booth "grab joint" " Bart Carny " is the twelfth episode of The Simpsons ' ninth season and originally aired on the Fox network on

Varney played the character "Walt Evergreen" in the Duckman episode "You've Come a Wrong Way, Baby". Duckman is an animated sitcom created by Everett Peck and developed by Peck Jeff Reno and Ron Osborn based on characters created by Peck in his Dark

Varney played Prince Carlos Charmaine, a royal suitor Jackie dates for a few episodes of the final season of the 1990s television series Roseanne. A television program (US television programme (UK or television show (U Roseanne is an American sitcom broadcast on ABC from 1988 to 1997 starring Stand-up comedian Roseanne

Varney played the villain Lothar Zogg in the 1998 film 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain. The year 1998 in film involved some significant events Events February 14 - Sharon Stone marries Phil Bronstein 3 Ninjas High Noon at Mega Mountain is a 1998 Martial arts film, and the fourth and final installment in the 3 Ninjas franchise

Varney is in Hank Williams, Jr. 's video for "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight," where he is briefly shown casually riding a bull.

Varney also played the part of Jed Clampett in the 1993 production of The Beverly Hillbillies. The year 1993 in film involved many significant films (For more about films in foreign languages check sources in those languages The Beverly Hillbillies is a 1993 20th Century Fox comedy motion picture starring Jim Varney, Diedrich Bader, Erika

Varney also played the entertainer/watch guard Rudy James in the movie Snowboard Academy. Snowboard Academy is a 1996 independent Comedy film starring Corey Haim, Jim Varney and Brigitte Nielsen.

He also has a small part in an independent production 100 Proof. Just prior to his stint as Ernest P. Worrell, Varney was a cast member on the notorious television flop Pink Lady and Jeff. Pink Lady, also known as Pink Lady and Jeff, is a short-lived American Variety show that aired for four weeks on NBC

Varney was a special guest, appearing as himself, in the Bibleman Genesis Series Bibleman Jr.. Bibleman Jr was a spinoff of "Bibleman" The "junior" version is for preschoolers and is less violent than the "Bibleman" show

Varney starred in three videos The Misadventures of Bubba, The Misadventures of Bubba II, and Bubba goes Hunting in which he played himself and taught young kids important safety rules about hunting and guns. He illustrated the rules with the help of his bumbling and accident prone cousin Bubba (also played by Varney) and Bubba's imaginary hunting pal Billy Bob. The videos were distributed as part of a membership pack from Buckmasters' Young Bucks Club.

Personal life

Varney was married twice, to Jacqueline Drew (1977-1983), and Jane Varney (1988-1991). Also 1977 (album by Ash. Year 1977 ( MCMLXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays Year 1983 ( MCMLXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar) Year 1988 ( MCMLXXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar) Year 1991 ( MCMXCI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar. Both marriages ended in divorce, though he remained friends with Jane until his death. Divorce or dissolution of marriage is the termination of a Marriage.

He would visit hospitals, and entertain sick children in his "Ernest" persona. Ernest P Worrell was a fictional character portrayed by American actor Jim Varney in a series of Television commercials and later in a television series [3][4]

Death

Varney died of lung cancer[5][6][7] on February 10, 2000 at 4:45 a. Lung cancer is a Disease of uncontrolled Cell growth in tissues of the Lung. Events 1355 - The St Scholastica's Day riot breaks out in Oxford, England, leaving 63 scholars and perhaps 30 locals dead 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. m. in his White House, Tennessee home as the movie Ernest the Pirate[8] neared completion and when Atlantis: The Lost Empire was still in production. White House is a city in Robertson and Sumner counties in the U Atlantis The Lost Empire is the 40th Disney Animated feature produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney He is interred at the Lexington Cemetery. Lexington Cemetery 170 acres (07 km² is a private non-profit Cemetery and Arboretum located at 833 W

Filmography

Cinema-Actor

The handprints of Jim Varney in front of The Great Movie Ride at Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park.
The handprints of Jim Varney in front of The Great Movie Ride at Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park. The Great Movie Ride is an attraction at Walt Disney World 's Disney's Hollywood Studios Theme park. Walt Disney World Resort is the most visited and largest recreational resort in the world containing four Theme parks two Water parks twenty-three themed hotels Disney's Hollywood Studios is a Theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort.

Television-Actor

Footnotes

  1. ^ Ernest's transition from TV to film | Jim Varney | Movie News | Movies | Entertainment Weekly
  2. ^ Auntie Nelda on YouTube
  3. ^ Author's Den
  4. ^ When given the chance to have a lifelong dream fulfilled by such groups as the Make-A-Wish Foundation, several hundred terminally ill children have asked to meet Ernest. He never let them down.
  5. ^ Was a heavy smoker and died of lung cancer.
  6. ^ [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001815/bio When he discovered he had lung cancer, he reportedly threw away his cigarettes and quit smoking cold turkey. Operation Petticoat is a 1959 comedic film directed by Blake Edwards, and starring Cary Grant, Tony Curtis, and Dina Merrill, Some of his last words were "I'm going home, I'm Ready", referring to heaven.
  7. ^ Included in a 1986 home video collection of Ernest commercials is a public service Noelleecc.com spot with Ernest trying to convince "Vern" to quit smoking, thus avoiding "The Big 'C'-Cancer. Chemotherapy City."
  8. ^ His final movie, "Ernest the Pirate" (2000) had nearly completed shooting at the time of his death. For that reason, it got canceled, and was never released on VHS, DVD, or as part of an "Ernest" box set on anything.

External links

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