Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon, known professionally as her stage character Minnie Pearl, was an American comedian who appeared at the Grand Ole Opry for more than 50 years and on the television show Hee Haw from 1969 to 1991.
20 Facts About Minnie Pearl
2.
Minnie Pearl was the youngest of five daughters born to a prosperous sawmill owner and timber dealer in Centerville.
3.
Minnie Pearl graduated from Ward-Belmont College, at the time Nashville's most prestigious school for young ladies, where she majored in theater studies and dance.
4.
Minnie Pearl taught dance for the first few years after graduating.
5.
Minnie Pearl produced and directed plays and musicals for local organizations in small towns throughout the Southeast.
6.
Minnie Pearl lived in the fictional town of Grinders Switch.
7.
Minnie Pearl always dressed in frilly "down home" dresses and wore a hat with a price tag hanging from it, displaying the $1.98 price.
8.
Minnie Pearl's often self-deprecating humor involved her unsuccessful attempts to attract "a feller's" attention and, in later years, her age.
9.
Minnie Pearl appeared at an event kicking off his 1962 candidacy for governor.
10.
Minnie Pearl drew much of her comic material from her hometown of Centerville, which she called Grinders Switch.
11.
Minnie Pearl made several appearances on NBC's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford.
12.
Minnie Pearl appeared as a celebrity panelist on game shows such as Match Game in 1977 and 1978, and Hollywood Squares in 1980.
13.
Minnie Pearl's name has been lent to the affiliated Sarah Cannon Research Institute.
14.
Minnie Pearl is buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in Franklin, Tennessee.
15.
Minnie Pearl was an important influence on younger female country music singers and rural humorists such as Jerry Clower, Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall, Carl Hurley, David L Cook, Chonda Pierce, Ron White, and Larry the Cable Guy.
16.
Minnie Pearl is mentioned in the lyrics of the 1988 song "Punk Rock Girl" by the Dead Milkmen.
17.
Minnie Pearl was friends with performers outside the country genre, including Elvis Presley, Dean Martin, and Paul Reubens.
18.
Minnie Pearl released a number of single records for RCA Victor during the 1950s, including a few duets with Grandpa Jones.
19.
Minnie Pearl later recorded with Sovine and Buddy Starcher in other single releases.
20.
Minnie Pearl was back on RCA in 1974 when Archie Campbell and she released a parody record of Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty's hit "As Soon As I Hang Up the Phone" which received airplay, but did not chart.