Minnie Pearl
Minnie Pearl (* 25. October 1912 when Sarah Ophelia Colley in Centerville , Tennessee ; † 4. March 1996 in Nashville , Tennessee) was a Country - comedienne , with the TV show Hee Haw became known and more than 50 years as a member of the Grand Ole Opry was. Her trademark was a large hat with a price tag on the side that said "$ 1.98".
Career
Sarah Colley got her first professional engagements from the Wayne P. Sewell Production Company , which staged plays and musicals in smaller locations in the southeastern United States. While producing a musical comedy in Baileyton, Alabama , Colley met a rural woman who became the role model for her stage alter ego, "Cousin Minnie Pearl". She had her first appearance as Minnie Pearl in 1939 in Aiken , South Carolina ; on November 30, 1940 she made her first appearance in the Grand Ole Opry .
Her comedic performances were loving satires on her hometown of Centerville, she always presented herself as a "man-hungry" unmarried woman, and her fictional relatives like "Uncle Nabob" and her "brother" were often featured. In real life, she was married to Henry Cannon from 1947 until her death. Minnie Pearl also sang comedic songs, some of which were released as singles, such as B. How to Catch a Man or Giddyup Go — Answer which was Minnie Pearl's only hit. The title reached number 10 on the C&W charts in 1966. The exclamation “How-deeee! I'm just so proud to be here! ”Became her trademark, as did a large straw hat with silk flowers, from which she“ forgot ”to remove the" $ 1.98 "price tag that was now hanging on its side.
From 1969 to 1991 Minnie Pearl was one of the stars in the well-known Saturday evening show Hee Haw , a member of the Grand Ole Opry for more than 50 years, where she appeared alongside stars such as Hank Williams , Tennessee Ernie Ford , Roy Acuff and Red Foley . In 1975 she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame .
In the foyer of the Ryman Auditorium (which until 1974 was the home of the Grand Ole Opry) is a bronze sculpture of Minnie Pearl and her friend Roy Acuff sitting on a bench.
influence
Pearl influenced many of the old country musicians, above all Hank Williams, to whom she was almost motherly, but also the younger generation of female country singers, as Pearl was one of the first business women and one of the first women in show business as a role model was true. Pearl is also considered a pioneer of rural humor, with comedians such as Jerry Clower, Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall, Ron White and Daniel Lawrence (" Larry the Cable Guy ") Whitney following in her footsteps .
social commitment
In later years, after surviving breast cancer , she founded the Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation, a non-profit institution in the field of cancer research. Various oncology centers , the "Sarah Cannon Cancer Center" and a research center now bear her name.
death
Sarah Cannon died of a stroke at the age of 83 . She was buried in the Mount Hope Cemeterey in Franklin, Tennessee .
Publications
| title | medium | Publisher / Studio | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Howdy! | Sound recording | Sunset | 1950 |
| Minie Pearl's Diary | book | Greenberg | 1953 |
| Country Western Caravan | Sound recording | RCA Vicor | 1954 |
| Minnie Pearl's Christmas at Grinder's Switch (with Tennessee Ernie Ford ) | book | Abingdon Press | 1963 |
| America's Beloved Minnie Pearl | Sound recording | Starday | c. 1965 |
| History Repeats Itself (with Buddy Starcher) | Sound recording | Starday | c. 1967 |
| I Didn't Jump the Fence (with Red Sovine ) | Sound recording | Starday | c. 1968 |
| Hall of Fame (Vol. 9) | Sound recording | Starday | c. 1969 |
| Giddyup Go Answer from LP Various Artists Thunder on the Road | Starday SLP-386 | 1966 | |
| Minnie Pearl Cooks | book | Aurora Publishers | 1970 |
| Live at the Grand Ole Opry (with Hank Williams ) | Sound recording | MGM | 1976 |
| Minnie Pearl: To Autobiographer (with Joan Dew) | book | Simon and Schuster | 1980 |
| Christmas At Grinder's Switch (with Roy Acuff ) | book | Abingdon Press | 1985 |
| Best Jokes Minnie Pearl Ever Told (Plus a Few She Overheard!) | book | Rutledge Hill Press | 1999 |
Individual evidence
- ^ Whitburn, Joel: The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Hits . 7th revised and expanded edition, New York City, New York: Billboard Books, 2005, p. 234
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Pearl, Minnie |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Colley, Sarah Ophelia |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American country comedian |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 25, 1912 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Centerville, Tennessee |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 4, 1996 |
| Place of death | Nashville |