Everything about Jim Varney totally explained
James Albert Varney Jr. (
June 15,
1949 –
February 10,
2000) was an
American actor. He was best known for his character
Ernest P. Worrell, originally created by
Nashville advertising agency Carden and Cherry in the
1980s. 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.
Early life
Varney was born in
Lexington, Kentucky, where he grew up. 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. 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. 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. The character was franchised for use in markets all over the country, and was often used by
dairies to advertise milk products. 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).
Purity Dairies, based in Nashville, and Oakhurst Dairy in Maine ran commercials that were nearly identical, but with the dairy name changed.
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. In another spot, Glory's home was shown as he'd 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. In one, he's 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.
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. 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. 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.
During the
1990s, Jim reprised his role as Ernest for
Blake's Lotaburger, a fast food chain in New Mexico. 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 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.
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. The
Walt Disney World Resort's
Epcot theme park featured Ernest. 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. 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.
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, which was released the year after his death.
Varney provided the guest voice for the
carny character "Cooder" for "
Bart Carny" episode of
The Simpsons.
Varney played the character "Walt Evergreen" in the
Duckman episode "You've Come a Wrong Way, Baby".
Varney played Prince Carlos Charmaine, a royal suitor Jackie dates for a few episodes of the final season of the 1990s
television series Roseanne.
Varney played the villain Lothar Zogg in the
1998 film .
Varney is in Hank Williams, Jr. 's video for "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight," where he's briefly shown casually riding a bull.
Varney also played the part of Jed Clampett in the
1993 production of
The Beverly Hillbillies.
Varney also played the entertainer/watch guard Rudy James in the movie
Snowboard Academy.
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.
Varney was a special guest, appearing as himself, in the Bibleman Genesis Series
Bibleman Jr..
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). Both marriages ended in
divorce, though he remained friends with Jane until his death.
He would visit hospitals, and entertain sick children in his "
Ernest" persona.
Death
Varney died of
lung cancer on
February 10,
2000 at 4:45 a.m. in his
White House, Tennessee home as the movie
Ernest the Pirate neared completion and when was still in production. He is interred at Lexington's cemetery.
Filmography
Cinema-Actor
Television-Actor
The Simpsons episode - Bart Carny (1998) Cooder (voice)
Roseanne (1996) Prince Carlos of Moldavia
Hey Vern, It's Ernest! (1988) Ernest, Dr. Otto, Auntie Nelda, Sergeant Glory, Baby Ernest
The Rousters (1983) Evan Earp
Operation Petticoat (1977-1979) Seaman Broom
Footnotes
Further Information
Get more info on 'Jim Varney'.
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