39 Facts About Jimmy Dean

Jimmy Ray Dean was an American country music singer, television host, actor and businessman.

Jimmy Dean was the creator of the Jimmy Dean sausage brand as well as the spokesman for its TV commercials.

Jimmy Dean became a national television personality starting on CBS in 1957.

Jimmy Dean rose to fame for his 1961 country music crossover hit into rock and roll with "Big Bad John" and his 1963 television series The Jimmy Dean Show gave puppeteer Jim Henson his first national exposure with his character, Rowlf.

Jimmy Dean's acting career included appearing in the early seasons in the Daniel Boone TV series as the sidekick of the famous frontiersman played by star Fess Parker.

Jimmy Dean lived near Richmond, Virginia, and was nominated for the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2010, but died before his induction that year at the age of 81.

Jimmy Dean attributed his interest in music to the Seth Ward Baptist Church.

Jimmy Dean dropped out of high school and became a professional entertainer after serving in the US Air Force in the late 1940s.

Jimmy Dean was 22 and just starting in show business when he married his first wife, Mary Sue, in 1950.

Jimmy Dean had minor pop hits, such as "Little Sandy Sleighfoot" and "Sing Along", later used as the theme for TV's Sing Along with Mitch, hosted by chorus leader Mitch Miller.

In 1954, Jimmy Dean hosted the popular Washington, DC, radio program Town and Country Time on WARL-AM, and with his Texas Wildcats became popular in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Also during 1957, while he lived in Arlington, Virginia, Jimmy Dean hosted Country Style on WTOP-TV.

Jimmy Dean became best known for "Big Bad John", his 1961 recitation song about a heroic miner.

Jimmy Dean had several more top 40 songs, including a top 10 in 1962 with "PT-109", a song in honor of President John F Kennedy's bravery in World War II, with the sinking of his PT-boat in the South Pacific Ocean by the Japanese.

Jimmy Dean sang several songs associated with his father, Hank Williams.

Jimmy Dean appeared on several TV talk shows and game shows in the 1960s and performed on variety programs, including The Ed Sullivan Show, The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom and The Hollywood Palace.

Jimmy Dean turned to acting after his television series ended in 1966.

Jimmy Dean appeared in 14 episodes of Daniel Boone in three different roles ; as Charlie Rowlands in two Fantasy Island episodes ; and on other television shows including a semi-regular role as Charlie Bullets on JJ Starbuck starring Dale Robertson.

Jimmy Dean's singing career remained strong into the mid-1960s; in 1965, he achieved a second number one country hit with the ballad "The First Thing Ev'ry Morning ", and he had a top 40 hit that year with "Harvest of Sunshine".

In 1966, Jimmy Dean signed with RCA Victor and immediately had a top 10 hit with "Stand Beside Me".

Jimmy Dean continued charting into the early 1970s with his major hits, including "Slowly", a duet with Dottie West, and a solo hit with "The One You Say Good Morning To".

In January 1978, Jimmy Dean hosted an all-star tribute to Elvis Presley titled Nashville Remembers Elvis on His Birthday, during which he reminisced about his friendship with the recently deceased singer and performed his own hit "Big Bad John" and "Peace in the Valley".

Jimmy Dean did well in part because of Dean's own extemporized, humorous commercials.

Jimmy Dean remained involved as spokesman for the company, but the new corporate parent immediately began phasing him out of any management duties.

In January 2004, Jimmy Dean said that Sara Lee had dropped him as the spokesman for the sausage brand because he was too old.

In March 2004, Jimmy Dean revealed that he had sold all but one of his shares in Sara Lee stock.

In 2018, several years after his death, the sausage company began re-airing some classic commercials featuring the voice of Jimmy Dean introducing himself and praising the product.

Jimmy Dean owned a 110-foot yacht, Big Bad John, on which he hosted President George Bush on numerous occasions.

Jimmy Dean lived in semi-retirement with his second wife, Donna Meade Jimmy Dean, a singer, songwriter, and recording artist he married in 1991, who helped him write his book.

Jimmy Dean announced on May 20,2008, a donation of $1 million to Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, the largest gift ever from one individual to the institution.

On February 23,2010, Jimmy Dean was nominated for the Country Music Hall of Fame; he was scheduled to be inducted in October 2010, but this occurred after his death.

Jimmy Dean married his first wife in 1950; she divorced him in 1990 because of his affair with country-singer Donna Meade who became his second wife.

Donna Jimmy Dean married her childhood sweetheart Jason Stevens two years after Jimmy Dean's death.

Jimmy Dean died on June 13,2010, at the age of 81 at his home in Varina, Virginia.

Jimmy Dean told the Associated Press that he was doing well health-wise, so his death came unexpectedly.

Jimmy Dean recollects that he was eating while watching television, she left the room, and when she came back in he was unresponsive.

Jimmy Dean's estate was estimated to be worth over $50 million.

Jimmy Dean was entombed in a 9-foot-tall piano-shaped mausoleum overlooking the James River on the grounds of his estate.

Jimmy Dean's epitaph reads "Here Lies One Hell of a Man", which is a paraphrased lyric from the uncensored version of his song "Big Bad John".