Jim Varney

James Albert Varney Jr. (June 15, 1949, in Nashville, Tennessee – February 10, 2000) better known as Jim Varney was an American actor, 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 in the following years.

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 Braums ran several advertisements using Ernest's trademark catchphrase, "Know what I mean, Vern?" Purity Dairies, based in Varney's hometown of Nashville, ran commercials that were nearly identical, but with the 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 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.

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 is seen kneeling down in front of Vern's desk under a lamp hanging from the ceiling, stating "Natural gas, 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.

He was also noted for doing commercials for car dealerships across the country, most notably Cerritos Auto Square in Cerritos, California. Another favorite Ernest vehicle was promotions for various TV stations around the nation, including the news team and the weather departments.

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.

Early life

Varney 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, Kentucky. At the age of 15, he portrayed Ebenezer Scrooge in a local children's 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.

Ernest popularity

His 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 90s. Ernest Goes to Camp earned Varney a nomination for "Worst New Star" in the 1987 Golden Raspberry Awards (he "lost"). Other Ernest movies included Ernest Saves Christmas, Ernest Goes to Jail, and Ernest Scared Stupid.

Non "Ernest" work

He also lent his voice to the character "Slinky Dog" in Disney's Toy Story film series.

Varney provided the guest voice for the carny character "Cooder" for "Bart Carny" episode of The Simpsons.

Varney also played the part of Jed Clampett in the 1993 production of The Beverly Hillbillies. In addition to his Ernest Goes to... series, he starred in several smaller movies for Carden & Cherry such as Ernest P. Worrell's 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. Just prior to his stint as Ernest P. Worrell, Varney was a cast member on the notorious television flop Pink Lady and Jeff.

Personal life

He had two wives: Jackie Varney (1976-1983), and Jane Varney (1988-1991).

Death

Jim Varney died of lung cancer on February 10, 2000 at about 4:45 a.m. in his home in White House, Tennessee, as the movie Ernest the Pirate neared completion; he was 50 years old. When he discovered he had lung cancer, he reportedly threw away his cigarettes and quit smoking cold turkey. Unfortunately, his doctors told him that it was too late.

Varney, who started smoking at age 15 (after seeing James Bond on the silver screen), once filmed an anti-smoking public service spot as Ernest. The spot involved Ernest trying to convince Vern, Ernest's unseen friend, to quit smoking, thus avoiding "The Big 'C': cancer. The spot was included in a 1986 home video collection of Ernest commercials.

French Stewart is being rumored as the actor who will portray Varney in an up-coming bio-pic.

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