Jim Varney is best known for his broadly comedic role as Ernest P Worrell, for which he won a Daytime Emmy Award, as well as appearing in films and numerous television commercial advertising campaigns.
33 Facts About Jim Varney
2.
Jim Varney played Jed Clampett in a film adaptation of The Beverly Hillbillies and performed the voice of Slinky Dog in the first two films of the Toy Story franchise.
3.
Jim Varney died at age 50 of lung cancer on February 10,2000, leaving two posthumous releases, Daddy and Them and Atlantis: The Lost Empire.
4.
When Varney was a boy, his mother would turn on cartoons for him to watch.
5.
Jim Varney's mother discovered that Varney quickly began to imitate the cartoon characters, so she started him in children's theater when he was eight years old.
6.
Jim Varney began his interest in theater as a teenager, winning state titles in drama competitions while a student at Lafayette High School in Lexington.
7.
Jim Varney studied Shakespeare at the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia, and performed in an Opryland folk show in its first year of operation, in the 1970s.
8.
Jim Varney listed a former teacher, Thelma Beeler, as being a mentor in his becoming an actor.
9.
When he was 24, Jim Varney was an actor at the Pioneer Playhouse in Danville, Kentucky.
10.
Jim Varney entertained the young apprentices by throwing knives into trees.
11.
Jim Varney performed in Blithe Spirit, Boeing 707 and an original musical, Fire on the Mountain.
12.
Jim Varney had an established acting career before his fame as Ernest.
13.
In 1976, Jim Varney was a regular cast member of the television show Johnny Cash and Friends.
14.
Jim Varney played a recurring guest on the faux late-night talk show Fernwood 2 Night.
15.
In 1978, Jim Varney played Milo Skinner on the TV show Alice.
16.
Jim Varney starred as Ernest in a series of commercials that ran in the New Orleans area as a spokesman for natural gas utilities.
17.
Jim Varney appeared in several Braum's Ice Cream and Dairy Stores commercials throughout the 1980s.
18.
Jim Varney made commercials for car dealerships across the country, most notably Cerritos Auto Square in Cerritos, California, Tysons Toyota in Tysons Corner, Virginia, and Audubon Chrysler in Henderson, Kentucky.
19.
Jim Varney portrayed Ernest in a series of commercials for Convenient Food Mart during the 1980s.
20.
Jim Varney portrayed "Auntie Nelda" in numerous commercials; dressed in drag and appearing to be a senior citizen, the commercials gave off the tone of "Auntie Nelda" as a motherly lady encouraging one to do what was right.
21.
Jim Varney appeared as Ernest in on-air promos for local TV stations in several markets, talking about their news and weather personalities.
22.
In 1985, Jim Varney co-hosted HBO's New Year's Eve special, along with Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson.
23.
Jim Varney later played a small role in the 1995 action film The Expert as a weapons dealer named Snake.
24.
Jim Varney had a brief role as an incestuous, abusive father in an independent film, 100 Proof, for which he received good reviews from critics.
25.
Jim Varney played a rebel in the midnight movie Existo, as well as an old mariner in a low-budget horror film, Blood, Friends, and Money.
26.
Jim 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.
27.
Jim Varney illustrated the rules with the help of his bumbling and accident-prone cousin Bubba and Bubba's nephew, Billy Bob.
28.
Jim Varney allegedly had been hoping to acquire more serious acting roles before his death, wanting to step outside the typecast of Ernest.
29.
Jim Varney was married twice, first to Jacqueline Drew and then to Jane Jim Varney.
30.
Jim Varney was an accomplished mountain dulcimer player and once played the instrument on the very last episode of The Chevy Chase Show.
31.
At first, he presumed it was a cold caused by cold weather in the filming location; however, as it became worse, Jim Varney began noticing blood on his handkerchief as well as a nose bleed.
32.
Jim Varney eventually returned to Tennessee, where he underwent chemotherapy; however, it failed and he subsequently died on Thursday, February 10,2000, at his home in White House, Tennessee, a city north of Nashville, at the age of 50.
33.
Jim Varney was buried in Lexington Cemetery in Lexington, Kentucky.