LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Jim Varney
built 221 days ago
Jim Varney was 15 years old when he played the role of Ebenezer Scrooge in a local children's theater production. When he was 17, he was performing professionally in nightclubs and coffee houses. In his autobiography Jim points out that his teacher, Thelma Beeler, was one of the main contributing factors in his becoming an actor.
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Jim Varney was a much better actor than he was given credit for. His zany characters and incredibly flexible face was unmatched by any other actor. His "Family Album" on this CD really showcased his abilities.
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Gangling, Kentucky-born actor Jim Varney cut his professional teeth at Virginia's Barter Theater, a summer-stock concern specializing in vintage American melodramas. At his funniest when playing it totally straight, Varney was hired as a comedy-ensemble member of the 1976 TV variety series The Johnny Cash Show. He went on to play Evel Knievel-takeoff Virgil Sims in Norman Lear's syndicated talk show spoofs Fernwood 2-Night (1977) and America 2-Night (1978). He was ... seen as Seaman Broom on Operation Petticoat (1977), in another ensemble play on the ill-fated Pink Lady (1980), as host of the 1982-1983 season of the country-western syndie Pop! Goes the Country, and as Evan Earp, a very distant descendant of Wyatt, on The Rousters. While this multitude of TV credits was impressive enough, Varney's true claim to fame rested in his dozens of commercial appearances, first as Sgt. Glory in a series of public service spots for the Southern Dairy Commission, then as dimwitted hayseed Ernest P. Worrell ("Hey, Vern!"
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Only a bumbling bank janitor like know-it-all knucklehead Ernest P. Worrell (Emmy® Award-winning comedian Jim Varney) could serve on jury duty and wind up serving time -- in the slammer! and before you can say "Framed!" -- the switch is on! While Ernest is behind bars trying to fit in and break out, he manages to turn the big house into a nuthouse full of big laughs. Meanwhile, his evil double is busy taking his place at the bank and in his girlfriend's life! Full of comic inventiveness, a wacky cast of characters, and slam-bang special effects, ERNEST GOES TO JAIL is guilty of maximum fun in the first degree!
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Jim Varney, 50, the rubbernecked comic best known for his hokey but adored character Ernest, died of lung cancer Thursday at his home in White House, Tenn., near Nashville. Varney first rose to prominence in the 1980s in a series of regional commercials. He played the excitable, in-your-face character Ernest P. Worrell. He parlayed Ernest into a series of national commercials and nine "Ernest" movies (some for the large screen and others for the small), including "Ernest Goes to Camp." He ... provided the voice of Slinky Dog in "Toy Story" and "Toy Story II." Varney's cancer was diagnosed in August 1998.
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Jim Varney became interested in theater as a teenager, winning state titles in drama competitions while a student at Lafayette High School in Lexington, Kentucky. At age 15 he played Ebeneezer Scrooge in a local children's theater production of "A Christmas Carol", and by 17 was performing professionally in nightclubs and coffee houses. He chose Nashville rather than New York or Los ...[show more]
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Jim Varney