Minnie Pearl
Encyclopedia
Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon (October 25, 1912 – March 4, 1996), known professionally as Minnie Pearl, was an American country comedienne who appeared at the Grand Ole Opry
for more than 50 years (from 1940 to 1991) and on the television show Hee Haw
from 1969 to 1991.
, in Hickman County, Tennessee
, about 50 miles (80 km) southwest of Nashville
. She was the youngest of the five daughters of a prosperous lumberman in Centerville. She graduated from Ward-Belmont College
(now Belmont University
), at the time Nashville's most prestigious school for young ladies, where her major was theater studies and dance was a particular interest. After graduation she taught dance for several years.
s for local organizations in small towns throughout the southeastern United States
.
As part of her work with the Sewell company, she made brief appearances at civic organizations to promote the group's shows. She developed her Minnie Pearl routine during this period. While producing an amateur musical comedy in Baileyton, Alabama
, she met a mountain woman whose style and talk became the basis for "Cousin Minnie Pearl". Her first stage performance as Minnie Pearl was in 1939 in Aiken, South Carolina
. The following year, executives from Nashville radio station WSM-AM
saw her perform at a bankers' convention in Centerville and gave her an opportunity to appear on the Grand Ole Opry
on November 30, 1940. The success of her debut on the show began an association with the Grand Ole Opry that continued for more than 50 years.
Pearl's comedy was gentle satire
of rural Southern
culture, often called "hillbilly
" culture. Pearl always dressed in styleless "down home" dresses and wore a hat with a price tag hanging from it, displaying the price of $1.98. Her catch phrase was "How-w-w-DEE-E-E-E! I'm jes' so proud to be here!" delivered in a loud holler. After she became an established star, her audiences usually shouted "How-w-w-DEE-E-E-E!" back. Pearl's humor was often self-deprecating, and involved her unsuccessful attempts at attracting the attention of "a feller" and, particularly in later years, her age. She also told monologues involving her comical 'ne'er-do-well' relatives, notably "Uncle Nabob" and "Brother", who was simultaneously both slow-witted and wise. She usually closed her monologues with the exit line, "I love you so much it hurts!" She also sang comic novelty songs.
Pearl's comic material derived heavily from her hometown of Centerville, which in her act she called Grinder's Switch
. Grinder's Switch is a community just outside of Centerville that consisted of little more than a railroad switch. Those who knew her recognized that the characters were largely based on real residents of Centerville. So much traffic resulted from fans and tourists looking for Grinder's Switch that the Hickman County Highway Department eventually changed the designation on the "Grinder's Switch" road sign to "Hickman Springs Road."
Cannon portrayed Minnie Pearl for many years on television, first on ABC's
Ozark Jubilee
in the late 1950s; then on the long-running television series Hee Haw
, both on CBS
and the subsequent syndicated
version. She made several appearances on NBC
's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford
. Her last regular performances on national television were on Ralph Emery
's Nashville Now country-music talk show on the former Nashville Network cable
channel. With Emery she performed in a weekly feature, "Let Minnie Steal Your Joke," in the Minnie Pearl character and read jokes submitted by viewers, with prizes for the best jokes.
Cannon made a cameo appearance in the film Coal Miner's Daughter
, in which she appears at the Opry as her Minnie Pearl character.
fighter pilot
during World War II
and was then a partner in an air charter
service. After the marriage, Henry Cannon set up his own air charter service for country music performers and took over management of the Minnie Pearl character. His clients in the charter service included Eddy Arnold
, Colonel Tom Parker
, Hank Williams, Carl Smith
, Webb Pierce
, and Elvis Presley
. The couple had no children. In 1969 they purchased a large estate home in Nashville next door to the Tennessee Governor's mansion.
persuaded Cannon and African-American gospel
singer Mahalia Jackson
to lend their names to a chain of fried chicken restaurants established to compete with Kentucky Fried Chicken. After initially reporting good results and enjoying a public stock worth $64 million, the venture collapsed amid allegations of accounting irregularities and stock price manipulation. The ensuing investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission cleared both Cannon and Jackson of involvement in financial wrongdoings, but both were embarrassed by the negative publicity.
through aggressive treatments including a double mastectomy
and radiation therapy
, she became a spokeswoman for the medical center in Nashville where she had been treated. She took on this role as herself, Sarah Ophelia Cannon, not Minnie Pearl, although a nonprofit group, the Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation, was founded in her memory to help fund cancer research. The center where she was treated was later named the Sarah Cannon Cancer Center, and has been expanded to several other hospitals in Middle Tennessee
and southern Kentucky. Her name has also been lent to the affiliated Sarah Cannon Research Institute
.
in June 1991, bringing her performing career to an end. After the stroke she resided in a Nashville nursing home
where she received frequent visits from country music industry figures, including Chely Wright
, Vince Gill
and Amy Grant
. Her death on March 4, 1996, at the age of 83, was attributed to complications from another stroke. She is buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in Franklin, Tennessee
.
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
. In 1992, she was awarded the National Medal of Arts
. In 2002 she was ranked as number 14 on CMT
's 40 Greatest Women in Country Music list.
She was friends with performers outside the country genre, including Dean Martin
(she appeared on an episode of The Dean Martin Show
), and Paul Reubens
(Pee-wee Herman). In 1992 Reubens made what would be his last appearance as Pee-wee Herman for the next 15 years at a Minnie Pearl tribute show.
Bronze statues of Minnie Pearl and Roy Acuff are displayed in the lobby of the Ryman Auditorium
.
Chely Wright
and Dean Sams (of Lonestar
) posed for the statues.
A museum dedicated to Minnie Pearl was situated just outside the Grand Ole Opry House at Opryland USA
(next to another museum dedicated to Roy Acuff), but the museum closed along with the theme park in 1997. Many of its artifacts were moved to the adjacent Grand Ole Opry Museum, some of which may have been damaged in the 2010 Tennessee floods
.
. During this period she also made guest appearances on records by Chet Atkins
and Ernest Tubb
. In the 1960s she moved to Starday Records. At age 54 she recorded a top ten hit for Starday, "Giddyup Go - Answer," a response to Red Sovine
's classic "Giddyup Go
". She later recorded with Sovine and Buddy Starcher
in other single releases.
Pearl was back on RCA in 1974 when she and Archie Campbell
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. In 1977, she appeared with a number of other Opry members on Dolly Parton
's New Harvest - First Gathering
album, singing on the song "Applejack
". In 1986 she was a featured guest vocalist, along with Jerry Clower
, on the Ray Stevens
comedy single entitled "Southern Air". It charted in the Top-70 of Billboard
Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
for more than 50 years (from 1940 to 1991) and on the television show Hee Haw
Hee Haw
Hee Haw is an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with fictional rural Kornfield Kounty as a backdrop. It aired on CBS-TV from 1969–1971 before a 20-year run in local syndication. The show was inspired by Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, the major difference being...
from 1969 to 1991.
Early life
Sarah Colley was born in CentervilleCenterville, Tennessee
Centerville is a town in Hickman County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 3,793 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Hickman County. It is probably best known for being the hometown of country comedian Minnie Pearl...
, in Hickman County, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, about 50 miles (80 km) southwest of Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
. She was the youngest of the five daughters of a prosperous lumberman in Centerville. She graduated from Ward-Belmont College
Ward-Belmont College
Ward-Belmont College was a women's college, also known at the time as a "ladies' seminary," located in Nashville, Tennessee on the grounds of the antebellum estate of Adelicia Acklen....
(now Belmont University
Belmont University
Belmont University is a private, coeducational, liberal arts university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. It is the largest Christian university in Tennessee and the second largest private university in the state, behind nearby Vanderbilt University.-Belmont Mansion:Belmont Mansion...
), at the time Nashville's most prestigious school for young ladies, where her major was theater studies and dance was a particular interest. After graduation she taught dance for several years.
Professional career
Her first professional theatrical job was with the Wayne P. Sewell Production Company, a touring theater company based in Atlanta, for which she produced and directed plays and musicalMusical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
s for local organizations in small towns throughout the southeastern United States
Southeastern United States
The Southeastern United States, colloquially referred to as the Southeast, is the eastern portion of the Southern United States. It is one of the most populous regions in the United States of America....
.
As part of her work with the Sewell company, she made brief appearances at civic organizations to promote the group's shows. She developed her Minnie Pearl routine during this period. While producing an amateur musical comedy in Baileyton, Alabama
Baileyton, Alabama
Baileyton is a town in Cullman County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 684. According to the 2005 U.S. Census estimates, the town had a population of 703. -History:...
, she met a mountain woman whose style and talk became the basis for "Cousin Minnie Pearl". Her first stage performance as Minnie Pearl was in 1939 in Aiken, South Carolina
Aiken, South Carolina
Aiken is a city in and the county seat of Aiken County, South Carolina, United States. With Augusta, Georgia, it is one of the two largest cities of the Central Savannah River Area. It is part of the Augusta-Richmond County Metropolitan Statistical Area. Aiken is home to the University of South...
. The following year, executives from Nashville radio station WSM-AM
WSM (AM)
WSM is the callsign of a 50,000 watt AM radio station located in Nashville, Tennessee. Operating at 650 kHz, its clear channel signal can reach much of North America and various countries, especially late at night...
saw her perform at a bankers' convention in Centerville and gave her an opportunity to appear on the Grand Ole Opry
Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
on November 30, 1940. The success of her debut on the show began an association with the Grand Ole Opry that continued for more than 50 years.
Pearl's comedy was gentle satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
of rural Southern
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
culture, often called "hillbilly
Hillbilly
Hillbilly is a term referring to certain people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas of the United States, primarily Appalachia but also the Ozarks. Owing to its strongly stereotypical connotations, the term is frequently considered derogatory, and so is usually offensive to those Americans of...
" culture. Pearl always dressed in styleless "down home" dresses and wore a hat with a price tag hanging from it, displaying the price of $1.98. Her catch phrase was "How-w-w-DEE-E-E-E! I'm jes' so proud to be here!" delivered in a loud holler. After she became an established star, her audiences usually shouted "How-w-w-DEE-E-E-E!" back. Pearl's humor was often self-deprecating, and involved her unsuccessful attempts at attracting the attention of "a feller" and, particularly in later years, her age. She also told monologues involving her comical 'ne'er-do-well' relatives, notably "Uncle Nabob" and "Brother", who was simultaneously both slow-witted and wise. She usually closed her monologues with the exit line, "I love you so much it hurts!" She also sang comic novelty songs.
Pearl's comic material derived heavily from her hometown of Centerville, which in her act she called Grinder's Switch
Grinder's Switch
Grinder's Switch is a real location just outside of Centerville, Tennessee, which consists of little more than the railroad switch for which it is named...
. Grinder's Switch is a community just outside of Centerville that consisted of little more than a railroad switch. Those who knew her recognized that the characters were largely based on real residents of Centerville. So much traffic resulted from fans and tourists looking for Grinder's Switch that the Hickman County Highway Department eventually changed the designation on the "Grinder's Switch" road sign to "Hickman Springs Road."
Cannon portrayed Minnie Pearl for many years on television, first on ABC's
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
Ozark Jubilee
Ozark Jubilee
Ozark Jubilee is the first U.S. network television program to feature country music's top stars, and was the centerpiece of a strategy for Springfield, Missouri to challenge Nashville, Tennessee as America's country music capital...
in the late 1950s; then on the long-running television series Hee Haw
Hee Haw
Hee Haw is an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with fictional rural Kornfield Kounty as a backdrop. It aired on CBS-TV from 1969–1971 before a 20-year run in local syndication. The show was inspired by Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, the major difference being...
, both on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
and the subsequent syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
version. She made several appearances on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford
The Ford Show
The Ford Show is a half-hour comedy/variety program, starring singer and folk humorist Tennessee Ernie Ford, which aired in color on NBC television on Thursday evenings from October 4, 1956 to June 29, 1961....
. Her last regular performances on national television were on Ralph Emery
Ralph Emery
Walter Ralph Emery is a country music disc jockey and television host from Nashville, Tennessee. He gained national fame hosting the syndicated television music series, Pop! Goes the Country, from 1974 to 1980 and the nightly Nashville Network television program, Nashville Now, from 1983 to 1993...
's Nashville Now country-music talk show on the former Nashville Network cable
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
channel. With Emery she performed in a weekly feature, "Let Minnie Steal Your Joke," in the Minnie Pearl character and read jokes submitted by viewers, with prizes for the best jokes.
Cannon made a cameo appearance in the film Coal Miner's Daughter
Coal Miner's Daughter
Coal Miner's Daughter is a 1980 American biographical film which tells the story of country music icon Loretta Lynn. It stars Sissy Spacek in her Academy Award for Best Actress winning role, Tommy Lee Jones, Beverly D'Angelo and Levon Helm, and was directed by Michael Apted.-Background:The film was...
, in which she appears at the Opry as her Minnie Pearl character.
Family life
On February 23, 1947 Sarah Colley married Henry R. Cannon, who had been an Army Air CorpsUnited States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...
fighter pilot
Fighter pilot
A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained in air-to-air combat while piloting a fighter aircraft . Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare and dogfighting...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and was then a partner in an air charter
Air charter
Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft as opposed to individual aircraft seats...
service. After the marriage, Henry Cannon set up his own air charter service for country music performers and took over management of the Minnie Pearl character. His clients in the charter service included Eddy Arnold
Eddy Arnold
Richard Edward Arnold , known professionally as Eddy Arnold, was an American country music singer who performed for six decades. He was a so-called Nashville sound innovator of the late 1950s, and scored 147 songs on the Billboard country music charts, second only to George Jones. He sold more...
, Colonel Tom Parker
Colonel Tom Parker
"Colonel" Thomas Andrew "Tom" Parker born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk, was a Dutch-born entertainment impresario known best as the manager of Elvis Presley...
, Hank Williams, Carl Smith
Carl Smith (country musician)
Carl Milton Smith was an American country music singer. Known as "Mister Country," Smith was the husband of June Carter and Goldie Hill, the drinking companion of Johnny Cash, and the father of Carlene Carter...
, Webb Pierce
Webb Pierce
Webb Michael Pierce was one of the most popular American honky tonk vocalists of the 1950s, charting more number one hits than any other country artist during the decade. His biggest hit was "In The Jailhouse Now," which charted for 37 weeks in 1955, 21 of them at number one...
, and Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
. The couple had no children. In 1969 they purchased a large estate home in Nashville next door to the Tennessee Governor's mansion.
Chicken restaurants
In the late 1960s Nashville entrepreneur John Jay HookerJohn Jay Hooker
John Jay Hooker, Jr. is a Nashville, Tennessee attorney, entrepreneur, perennial candidate and political gadfly.- Early life :John Jay Hooker was born to relative wealth and privilege in one of the Nashville area's more prominent families...
persuaded Cannon and African-American gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
singer Mahalia Jackson
Mahalia Jackson
Mahalia Jackson – January 27, 1972) was an African-American gospel singer. Possessing a powerful contralto voice, she was referred to as "The Queen of Gospel"...
to lend their names to a chain of fried chicken restaurants established to compete with Kentucky Fried Chicken. After initially reporting good results and enjoying a public stock worth $64 million, the venture collapsed amid allegations of accounting irregularities and stock price manipulation. The ensuing investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission cleared both Cannon and Jackson of involvement in financial wrongdoings, but both were embarrassed by the negative publicity.
Cancer research
After battling breast cancerBreast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
through aggressive treatments including a double mastectomy
Mastectomy
Mastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely. Mastectomy is usually done to treat breast cancer; in some cases, women and some men believed to be at high risk of breast cancer have the operation prophylactically, that is, to prevent cancer...
and radiation therapy
Radiation therapy
Radiation therapy , radiation oncology, or radiotherapy , sometimes abbreviated to XRT or DXT, is the medical use of ionizing radiation, generally as part of cancer treatment to control malignant cells.Radiation therapy is commonly applied to the cancerous tumor because of its ability to control...
, she became a spokeswoman for the medical center in Nashville where she had been treated. She took on this role as herself, Sarah Ophelia Cannon, not Minnie Pearl, although a nonprofit group, the Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation, was founded in her memory to help fund cancer research. The center where she was treated was later named the Sarah Cannon Cancer Center, and has been expanded to several other hospitals in Middle Tennessee
Middle Tennessee
Middle Tennessee is a distinct portion of the state of Tennessee, delineated according to state law as the 41 counties in the Middle Grand Division of Tennessee....
and southern Kentucky. Her name has also been lent to the affiliated Sarah Cannon Research Institute
Sarah Cannon Research Institute
Sarah Cannon Research Institute is a strategic research organization focusing on advancing therapies for patients and accelerating drug development. With corporate headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee, it conducts community-based clinical trials in oncology, cardiology, gastroenterology and other...
.
Final years
Cannon suffered a serious strokeStroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
in June 1991, bringing her performing career to an end. After the stroke she resided in a Nashville nursing home
Nursing home
A nursing home, convalescent home, skilled nursing unit , care home, rest home, or old people's home provides a type of care of residents: it is a place of residence for people who require constant nursing care and have significant deficiencies with activities of daily living...
where she received frequent visits from country music industry figures, including Chely Wright
Chely Wright
Richell Rene "Chely" Wright is an American country music artist and, starting in 2010, gay rights activist. On the strength of her debut album in 1994, the Academy of Country Music named her Top New Female Vocalist in 1995. Wright's first Top 40 country hit came in 1997 with "Shut Up and Drive"...
, Vince Gill
Vince Gill
Vincent Grant "Vince" Gill is an American neotraditional country singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman to the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s, and as a solo artist beginning in 1983, where his talents as a...
and Amy Grant
Amy Grant
Amy Lee Grant is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, media personality and actress, best known for her Christian music. She has been referred to as "The Queen of Christian Pop"...
. Her death on March 4, 1996, at the age of 83, was attributed to complications from another stroke. She is buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in Franklin, Tennessee
Franklin, Tennessee
Franklin is a city within and the county seat of Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 62,487 as of the 2010 census Franklin is located approximately south of downtown Nashville.-History:...
.
Legacy and influence
She was an important influence on younger female country musicCountry music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
singers and rural humorists such as Jerry Clower
Jerry Clower
Howard Gerald "Jerry" Clower was a popular country comedian best known for his stories of the rural South. He was often nicknamed "The Mouth of the South", although this title has also been used for other individuals.Clower began a 2-year stint in the Navy immediately after graduating high school...
, Jeff Foxworthy
Jeff Foxworthy
Jeffrey Marshall "Jeff" Foxworthy is an American comedian, television and radio personality and author. He is a member of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, a comedy troupe which also comprises Larry the Cable Guy, Bill Engvall and Ron White. Known for his "you might be a redneck" one-liners, Foxworthy...
, Bill Engvall
Bill Engvall
William Ray "Bill" Engvall, Jr. is an American comedian and actor best known for his work as a stand-up comic and as a member of the Blue Collar Comedy group.-Early life:Bill Engvall was born in Galveston, Texas...
, Carl Hurley
Carl Hurley
Carl Hurley or Carl Hurley, Ed.D. is a former Eastern Kentucky University professor, and nationally recognized Lexington, Kentucky comedian and lecturer...
, David L Cook, Chonda Pierce
Chonda Pierce
Chonda Pierce is a Christian comedienne often billed as "The Queen of Clean." Maiden name "Courtney".Pierce got her start in comedy during a six-year stint at a theme park in Nashville, Tennessee called Opryland USA. A Theater Arts major from Austin Peay State University, Pierce went to the park...
, Ron White
Ron White
Ronald "Ron" White is an American stand up comedian and satirist who has had two Grammy Award-nominations, and is RIAA certified 10x Platinum for CD and DVD sales of over 10 million units...
and Larry the Cable Guy
Larry the Cable Guy
Daniel Lawrence Whitney , better known by his stage name and character Larry the Cable Guy, is an American comedian, actor, and former radio personality....
. In 1992, she was awarded the National Medal of Arts
National Medal of Arts
The National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and patrons of the arts. It is the highest honor conferred to an individual artist on behalf of the people. Honorees are selected by the National Endowment for the...
. In 2002 she was ranked as number 14 on CMT
CMT
- Medicine :* California mastitis test* Certified Massage Therapist* Cervical motion tenderness, a sign of pelvic inflammatory disease* Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease* Chemically modified tetracyclines* Circus Movement Tachycardia...
's 40 Greatest Women in Country Music list.
She was friends with performers outside the country genre, including Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
(she appeared on an episode of The Dean Martin Show
The Dean Martin Show
The Dean Martin Show is a TV variety-comedy series that ran from 1965 to 1974 for 264 episodes. It was broadcast by NBC and hosted by crooner Dean Martin...
), and Paul Reubens
Paul Reubens
Paul Reubens is an American actor, writer, film producer, and comedian, best known for his character Pee-wee Herman. Reubens joined the Los Angeles troupe The Groundlings in the 1970s and started his career as an improvisational comedian and stage actor...
(Pee-wee Herman). In 1992 Reubens made what would be his last appearance as Pee-wee Herman for the next 15 years at a Minnie Pearl tribute show.
Bronze statues of Minnie Pearl and Roy Acuff are displayed in the lobby of the Ryman Auditorium
Ryman Auditorium
The Ryman Auditorium is a 2,362-seat live performance venue, located at 115 5th Avenue North, in Nashville, Tennessee and is best known as the historic home of the Grand Ole Opry....
.
Chely Wright
Chely Wright
Richell Rene "Chely" Wright is an American country music artist and, starting in 2010, gay rights activist. On the strength of her debut album in 1994, the Academy of Country Music named her Top New Female Vocalist in 1995. Wright's first Top 40 country hit came in 1997 with "Shut Up and Drive"...
and Dean Sams (of Lonestar
Lonestar
Lonestar is an American country music group consisting of Richie McDonald , Michael Britt , Keech Rainwater , Dean Sams , and Michael Hill . McDonald left the band in November 2007 for a solo career before returning in 2011...
) posed for the statues.
A museum dedicated to Minnie Pearl was situated just outside the Grand Ole Opry House at Opryland USA
Opryland USA
Opryland USA was an amusement park located in suburban Nashville, Tennessee. It operated seasonally from 1972 until 1997...
(next to another museum dedicated to Roy Acuff), but the museum closed along with the theme park in 1997. Many of its artifacts were moved to the adjacent Grand Ole Opry Museum, some of which may have been damaged in the 2010 Tennessee floods
2010 Tennessee floods
The May 2010 Tennessee floods were 1000-year floods in Middle Tennessee, West Tennessee, south-central and western Kentucky and northern Mississippi as the result of torrential rains on May 1 and 2, 2010...
.
Popular culture references
There are numerous references to the Minnie Pearl character in popular culture.- In the film SelenaSelena (film)Selena is a 1997 American biographical drama film about the life and career of the late Tejano music star Selena, a recording artist who was well known in the Mexican-American and Hispanic communities in the United States and Mexico before she was shot to death at the age of twenty-three.The movie...
while SelenaSelenaSelena Quintanilla-Pérez , known simply as Selena, was a Mexican American singer-songwriter. She was named the "top Latin artist of the '90s" and "Best selling Latin artist of the decade" by Billboard for her fourteen top-ten singles in the Top Latin Songs chart, including seven number-one hits...
(Jennifer LopezJennifer LopezJennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...
) is shopping for a gown in one scene, she dons a garish hat while her friend looks on disapprovingly. In her defense Selena then says "It's very Minnie Pearl!"
- Pat Priest guest stars on an episode of The Mary Tyler Moore ShowThe Mary Tyler Moore ShowThe Mary Tyler Moore Show is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns that aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977...
in 1977 playing Sue Ann Nivens' (Betty WhiteBetty WhiteBetty White Ludden , better known as Betty White, is an American actress, comedienne, singer, author, and former game show personality. With a career spanning seven decades since 1939, she is best known to modern audiences for her television roles as Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and...
) friendly, popular sister from the South. At one point when Priest calls out a greeting, Sue Ann snaps, "Look who's here, Minnie Pearl!"
- Singer Pam TillisPam TillisPamela Yvonne "Pam" Tillis is an American country music singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of country music singer Mel Tillis....
had a tribute song in honor of Minnie Pearl called "Two Dollar Hat" with the chorus:
- Year after year. Every week at the RymanRyman AuditoriumThe Ryman Auditorium is a 2,362-seat live performance venue, located at 115 5th Avenue North, in Nashville, Tennessee and is best known as the historic home of the Grand Ole Opry....
- She had 'em laughin' 'til she had 'em cryin',
- Fate had a star; the world had a diamond
- In a two dollar hat."
- She is mentioned in the song "Punk Rock Girl" by The Dead Milkmen
- "We'll dress like Minnie Pearl
- Just you and me, punk rock girl
- Let's have a child
- We'll name her Minnie Pearl
- Just you and me"
- She is mentioned in the song "Likes of You" by Flogging MollyFlogging MollyFlogging Molly is a seven-piece Irish-descendant band from Los Angeles, California, that is currently signed to their own record label, Borstal Beat Records.-Early years:...
"... met a girl named Minnie Pearl, swore she'd always be his girl ..."
- She is mentioned in Kenny RogersKenny RogersKenneth Donald "Kenny" Rogers is an American singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur...
' song, "The Last Ten Years (Superman):"
- We lost Minnie Pearl, Ron ReaganRonald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
and Sam-I-amDr. SeussTheodor Seuss Geisel was an American writer, poet, and cartoonist most widely known for his children's books written under the pen names Dr. Seuss, Theo LeSieg and, in one case, Rosetta Stone....
, We even lost SupermanSupermanSuperman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
!
- In the comic strip Get FuzzyGet FuzzyGet Fuzzy is an American daily comic strip written and drawn by Darby Conley. The strip features the adventures of Boston advertising executive Rob Wilco and his two anthropomorphic pets: dog Satchel Pooch and cat Bucky Katt. Get Fuzzy has been published by United Feature Syndicate since September...
, Minnie Pearl served as the punch linePunch lineA punch line is the final part of a joke, comedy sketch, or profound statement, usually the word, sentence or exchange of sentences which is intended to be funny or to provoke laughter or thought from listeners...
:
- Satchel - You know, Buck. Without your fang, you look like a different cat! You're like Inspector ClouseauInspector ClouseauChief Inspector Jacques Clouseau is a fictional character in Blake Edwards' The Pink Panther series. In most of the films, he was played by Peter Sellers, with one film in which he was played by Alan Arkin and one in which he was played by an uncredited Roger Moore...
without the mustache! - Bucky - Correction: I'm like Tom SelleckTom SelleckThomas William "Tom" Selleck is an American actor, and film producer. He is best known for his starring role as Hawaii-based private investigator Thomas Magnum on the 1980s television show Magnum, P.I.. He also plays Police Chief Jesse Stone in a series of made-for-TV movies based on the Robert B....
without the mustache. - Rob - Correction: You're like Minnie Pearl without the tag.
- She is included as a lyric in the Victor WootenVictor WootenVictor Lemonte Wooten is an American bass player, composer, author, and producer, and has been the recipient of five Grammy Awards....
song "When I want to Get Funky":
- "When I want to get funky / I might just date your girl / I might just rock her world / I might not comb my curls / kissin' Minnie Pearl"
- The song "Ophelia" by The BandThe BandThe Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...
is named for her.
- But I'm still waitin' for the second comin' Of Ophelia
- Come back home
- She is referred to in the song "Old Fashioned Girl" by Jaydee BixbyJaydee BixbyJaydee Bixby is a Canadian country musician who was the runner-up on the fifth season of Canadian Idol. In 2008 he signed with Her Royal Majesty's Records and went on to release his debut album Cowboys and Cadillacs...
:
- "She's an old-fashioned girl,
- A little bit like Mama,
- A little bit like Minnie Pearl."
- She is mentioned in the song "All American Country Girl" by Aaron WatsonAaron WatsonAaron Watson is an Texas country music singer.Watson was born in Amarillo, Texas and attended Abilene Christian University, where he began learning guitar, after playing junior college baseball in New Mexico. He gigged around Texas before releasing his debut album, A Texas Cafe; the follow-up,...
:
- "But when it comes down to the heart of the situation,
- She's a little rockin' honky tonkin' modern day Minnie Pearl,
- I should know, I've been all across this great nation,
- Oh there ain't no doubt, she's an All American country girl."
- Reba McEntire - Pink Guitar
- "Some day she's gonna play it up there on the Opry stage
- Soon you'll see it hangin' next to Minnie Pearl's hat, in the Country Music Hall of Fame"
- When Robin WilliamsRobin WilliamsRobin McLaurin Williams is an American actor and comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand-up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance...
performed at the Metropolitan OperaMetropolitan OperaThe Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
he opened his performance with, "How-w-w-DEE-E-E-E! Oops – wrong opera house!"
Books
| Title | Publisher/Studio | Copyright |
|---|---|---|
| Minnie Pearl's Diary | Greenberg | 1953 |
| Minnie Pearl's Christmas at Grinder's Switch (With Tennessee Ernie Ford Tennessee Ernie Ford Ernest Jennings Ford , better known as Tennessee Ernie Ford, was an American recording artist and television host who enjoyed success in the country and Western, pop, and gospel musical genres... ) |
Abingdon Press Abingdon Press Abingdon Press is the book publishing arm of the United Methodist Publishing House which publishes sheet music, ministerial resources, Bible-study aids, and other items, often with a focus on Methodism and Methodists. Abingdon Press was begun in the early 1900s by The Methodist Church, and is... |
1963 |
| Minnie Pearl Cooks | Aurora Publishers | 1970 |
| Minnie Pearl: An Autobiography (with Joan Dew) | Simon and Schuster | 1980 |
| Christmas At Grinder's Switch (with Roy Acuff Roy Acuff Roy Claxton Acuff was an American country music singer, fiddler, and promoter. Known as the King of Country Music, Acuff is often credited with moving the genre from its early string band and "hoedown" format to the star singer-based format that helped make it internationally successful.Acuff... ) |
Abingdon Press Abingdon Press Abingdon Press is the book publishing arm of the United Methodist Publishing House which publishes sheet music, ministerial resources, Bible-study aids, and other items, often with a focus on Methodism and Methodists. Abingdon Press was begun in the early 1900s by The Methodist Church, and is... |
1985 |
| Best Jokes Minnie Pearl Ever Told (Plus a Few She Overheard!) (compiled by Kevin Kenworthy) | Rutledge Hill Press | 1999 |
Selected Albums
| Title | Record Label | Copyright |
|---|---|---|
| Country Music Caravan* | RCA Victor | 1954 |
| Howdy! | Sunset | 1960 |
| America's Beloved Minnie Pearl | Starday | 1965 |
| The Country Music Story | Starday | 1966 |
| Lookin' Fer A Feller | Starday | 1967 |
| Hall of Fame (Vol. 9)*, (contributor) | Starday | c. 1969 |
| Thunder on the Road* | Starday | c. 1970 |
| Grandpa Jones Grandpa Jones Louis Marshall Jones , known professionally as Grandpa Jones, was an American banjo player and "old time" country and gospel music singer... and Minnie Pearl |
RCA Camden RCA Camden RCA Camden was a budget record label of recordings, first introduced by RCA Victor.-History:The label was named after Camden, New Jersey, original home to the Victor Talking Machine Company, later RCA Records. It specialized in reissuing historic classical and popular recordings from the RCA catalog... |
1973 |
| Stars of the Grand Ole Opry* | RCA RCA RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor... |
1974 |
| Live at the Grand Ole Opry* (With Hank Williams) | MGM | 1976 |
| New Harvest - First Gathering New Harvest - First Gathering -Chart performance:-External links:*... * (Dolly Parton Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk... album; appears on the track "Applejack") |
RCA RCA RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor... |
1977 |
| Backstage at the Grand Ole Opry* | RCA RCA RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor... |
1980 |
- = a guest appearance on another star's album or an appearance on a various artists album.
Singles
Minnie Pearl released a number of single records for RCA Victor during the 1950s including a few duets with Grandpa JonesGrandpa Jones
Louis Marshall Jones , known professionally as Grandpa Jones, was an American banjo player and "old time" country and gospel music singer...
. During this period she also made guest appearances on records by Chet Atkins
Chet Atkins
Chester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...
and Ernest Tubb
Ernest Tubb
Ernest Dale Tubb , nicknamed the Texas Troubadour, was an American singer and songwriter and one of the pioneers of country music. His biggest career hit song, "Walking the Floor Over You" , marked the rise of the honky tonk style of music...
. In the 1960s she moved to Starday Records. At age 54 she recorded a top ten hit for Starday, "Giddyup Go - Answer," a response to Red Sovine
Red Sovine
Woodrow Wilson Sovine , better known as Red Sovine, was an American country music singer associated with truck driving songs, particularly those recited as narratives but set to music...
's classic "Giddyup Go
Giddyup Go
"Giddyup Go" is a country music song made famous by Red Sovine. Released in 1965, the song was the title track to Sovine's album released that same year.A recitation paying homage to the American truck driver, "Giddyup Go" became Sovine's second No...
". She later recorded with Sovine and Buddy Starcher
Buddy Starcher
Buddy Starcher was an American country singer. He starred on his own show on WCHS-TV from 1960 to 1966. However, he is best known for his 1966 spoken word recording entitled "History Repeats Itself", written with Minnie Pearl and released on Boone Records...
in other single releases.
Pearl was back on RCA in 1974 when she and Archie Campbell
Archie Campbell
Archie Campbell was an American writer and star of Hee Haw, a popular long-running country-flavored network television variety show...
released a parody record of Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn is an American country music singer-songwriter, author and philanthropist. Born in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky to a coal miner father, Lynn married at 13 years old, was a mother soon after, and moved to Washington with her husband, Oliver Lynn. Their marriage was sometimes tumultuous; he...
and Conway Twitty
Conway Twitty
Conway Twitty , born Harold Lloyd Jenkins, was an American country music artist. He also had success in early rock and roll, R&B, and pop music. He held the record for the most number one singles of any act with 55 No. 1 Billboard country hits until George Strait broke the record in 2006...
's hit "As Soon As I Hang Up The Phone" which received airplay but did not chart. In 1977, she appeared with a number of other Opry members on Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
's New Harvest - First Gathering
New Harvest - First Gathering
-Chart performance:-External links:*...
album, singing on the song "Applejack
Applejack
Applejack may refer to:*Applejack *Applejack, a character in the My Little Pony franchise.*Apple Jacks, an American breakfast cereal...
". In 1986 she was a featured guest vocalist, along with Jerry Clower
Jerry Clower
Howard Gerald "Jerry" Clower was a popular country comedian best known for his stories of the rural South. He was often nicknamed "The Mouth of the South", although this title has also been used for other individuals.Clower began a 2-year stint in the Navy immediately after graduating high school...
, on the Ray Stevens
Ray Stevens
Ray Stevens is an American country music, pop singer-songwriter who has become known for his novelty songs.-Early career:...
comedy single entitled "Southern Air". It charted in the Top-70 of Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
| Year | Title | US Country Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales... |
|---|---|---|
| 1966 | "Giddyup Go - Answer" | 10 |
External links
- Minnie Pearl at the Country Music Hall of Fame
- Minnie Pearl At Find A GraveFind A GraveFind a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...