James Albert Varney Jr. was an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his broadly comedic role as Ernest P. Worrell, for which he won a Daytime Emmy Award, as well as appearing in films and numerous television commercial advertising campaigns. He played Jed Clampett in a film adaptation of The Beverly Hillbillies (1993) and performed the voice of Slinky Dog in the first two films of the Toy Story franchise (1995–1999). He died at age 50 of lung cancer on February 10, 2000, leaving two posthumous releases, Daddy and Them and Atlantis: The Lost Empire.

Early life

Varney was born in Lexington, Kentucky. As a child, he displayed the ability to memorize long poems and significant portions of the material from books, which he used to entertain family and friends. When Varney was a boy, his mother would turn on cartoons for him to watch. His mother discovered that Varney quickly began to imitate the cartoon characters, so she started him in children's theater when he was eight years old. Varney began his interest in theater as a teenager, winning state titles in drama competitions while a student at Lafayette High School (class of 1968) in Lexington.

Career

Early career

Varney had an established acting career before his fame as Ernest. In 1976, Varney was a regular cast member of the television show Johnny Cash and Friends. He also played a recurring guest on the faux late-night talk show Fernwood 2 Night. From 1977 to 1979, Varney was cast as Seaman "Doom & Gloom" Broom in the television version of Operation Petticoat. Just prior to his stint as Ernest, he was a cast member on the notorious television flop Pink Lady and Jeff. In 1978, Varney played Milo Skinner on the TV show Alice.

Work for Carden and Cherry

Varney's best-known character is Ernest P. Worrell, who would address the camera as if speaking to a friend, using his trademarked catchphrase "KnoWhutImean, Vern?" In 1980, the first commercial featuring the character advertised 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 dairy bar and hamburger chain Braum's ran several advertisements featuring Ernest; Purity Dairies, based in Nashville, Pine State Dairy in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Oakhurst Dairy in Maine ran commercials that were nearly identical, but with the dairy name changed.

During the 1990s, Varney reprised his role as Ernest for Blake's Lotaburger, a fast-food chain in New Mexico. In these commercials, Ernest typically would be trying to get into Vern's house to see what food Vern was eating. After a lengthy description of whatever tasty morsel Vern had, Ernest would get locked out but would continue to shout from outside.

Ernest's popularity

The character of Ernest became widely popular, and was the basis for a short-lived TV series, Hey Vern, It's Ernest! (1988) and a series of movies in the 1980s and 1990s.

Ernest Goes to Camp (1987) grossed $23.5 million at the U.S. box office, on a $3.5 million production budget, and stayed in the box-office top five for its first three weeks of release. Though Varney was nominated for the Razzie Award for Worst New Star, only one year later, he earned the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series for Hey Vern, It's Ernest! Subsequent theatrically released Ernest films include Ernest Saves Christmas (1988), Ernest Goes to Jail (1990), Ernest Scared Stupid (1991), and Ernest Rides Again (1993). After the financial failure of Ernest Rides Again, all further films were released direct-to-video: Ernest Goes to School (1994) which had a brief theatrical run in Ohio, Slam Dunk Ernest (1995), Ernest Goes to Africa (1997), and Ernest in the Army (1998).

The Walt Disney World Resort's Epcot theme park featured Ernest. Epcot's Cranium Command attraction used the Ernest character in its preshow as an example of a "lovable, but not the brightest person on the planet" type of person. In addition to his Ernest Goes to... series, he starred as Ernest in several smaller movies for John R. Cherry III, such as Knowhutimean? Hey Vern, It's My Family Album; Dr. Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom Beam; and the direct-to-video feature Your World as I See It, all of which showcased him in a wide variety of characters and accents.

The Ernest Film Festival (Greatest Hits Volume 1) was released on VHS in 1986. Greatest Hits Volume 2 was released in 1992. Mill Creek Entertainment released these classic television commercials on DVD box sets October 31, 2006. Image Entertainment re-released them on June 5, 2012, as part of the DVD set Ernest's Wacky Adventures: Volume 1.

Personal lifeIlln

Varney was married twice, first to Jacqueline Drew (1977–1983) and then to Jane Varney (1988–1991). Both marriages ended in divorce, although he remained friends with his ex-wife Jane until his death; she became Varney's spokeswoman and accompanied him in Pixar's 1999 film Toy Story 2. Neither union resulted in children.

On December 6, 2013, Varney's nephew Justin Lloyd published a comprehensive biography about his uncle titled The Importance of Being Ernest: The Life of Actor Jim Varney (Stuff that Vern doesn't even know). The same year, director Cherry released a Varney biography called Keeper of the Clown.

As of 2022, director David Pagano and Ernest Goes to Camp cast member Daniel Butler are planning to release a documentary about Varney called The Importance of Being Ernest.

Varney was an accomplished mountain dulcimer player and once played the instrument on the very last episode of The Chevy Chase Show.

Illness and death

Varney was a long-time chain smoker. During the filming of Treehouse Hostage in August 1998, Varney developed a nagging cough. At first, he presumed it was a cold caused by cold weather in the filming location; however, as it became worse, Varney began noticing blood on his handkerchief as well as a nose bleed. When filming was complete, he sought medical treatment where doctors found a tumor in his lung. Varney was diagnosed with lung cancer.

Though his condition slowly worsened, Varney reportedly threw his cigarettes away and quit smoking to continue performing. He eventually returned to Tennessee, where he underwent chemotherapy; however, it failed and he subsequently died on Thursday, February 10, 2000, at his home in White House, Tennessee, a city north of Nashville, at the age of 50. He was buried in Lexington Cemetery in Lexington, Kentucky.

Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire, which was released a year later, was his last dubbing work, and was dedicated to his memory.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games