Minnie Pearl
Minnie Pearl | |
---|---|
Hee-Haw | |
Spouse |
Henry R. Cannon (m. 1947) |
Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon (October 25, 1912 – March 4, 1996), known professionally as her stage character Minnie Pearl, was an American comedian who appeared at the Grand Ole Opry for more than 50 years (1940–1991) and on the television show Hee Haw from 1969 to 1991.[1][2]
Biography
Early life
Sarah Colley was born in Centerville in Hickman County, Tennessee, 50 miles (80 km) southwest of Nashville. She was the youngest of five daughters born to a prosperous sawmill owner and timber dealer in Centerville.[3]
She graduated from
Professional career
Her first professional theatrical work was with the Wayne P. Sewell Production Company, a touring theater company based in Atlanta. She produced and directed plays and musicals for local organizations in small towns throughout the Southeast.[3][4]
Part of her work involved making brief appearances at civic organizations to promote the group's shows, and during this time she developed her Minnie Pearl routine.[4] While producing an amateur musical comedy in Baileyton, Alabama she met a mountain woman whose style and speech became the basis for "Cousin Minnie Pearl".[3] Her first stage performance as Minnie Pearl was in 1939 in Aiken, South Carolina.[3] Her character's now-famous trademark hat was purchased downtown at Surasky Bros. Department store before the show. The following year, executives from Nashville radio station WSM 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.[3][4] The success of her debut on the show began an association with the Grand Ole Opry that continued for more than 50 years.[5]
Pearl's comedy was gentle satire of rural Southern culture, often called "hillbilly" culture. She lived in the fictional town of Grinders Switch. Pearl always dressed in frilly "down home" dresses and wore a hat with a price tag hanging from it, displaying the $1.98 price. Her signature greeting to her audience was an elongated "Howdy! I'm just so proud to be here!" delivered in a hearty holler.[6] After she became an established star, her greeting became a call-and-response with audiences everywhere. Pearl's often self-deprecating humor involved her unsuccessful attempts to attract "a feller's" attention and, in later years, her age. She also spun stories involving her comical "ne'er-do-well" relatives, notably "Uncle Nabob", his wife "Aunt Ambrosia", "Lucifer Hucklehead", "Miss Lizzie Tinkum", "Doc Payne", and, of course, her "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 and often danced with Grandpa Jones.
In 1956, she made a paid appearance – $3,000, plus expenses – at the kickoff event of the first Alabama gubernatorial candidacy of segregationist George Wallace. She also appeared at an event kicking off his 1962 candidacy for governor.
Pearl drew much of her comic material from her hometown of Centerville, which she called
Cannon portrayed Minnie Pearl for many years on television, first on
Cannon made a
Family life
On February 23, 1947, Colley married Henry R. Cannon, who had been an
Chicken restaurants
In the late 1960s Nashville entrepreneur
Cancer research
After battling
Final years
Cannon suffered a debilitating stroke in June 1991,[3] 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.
Legacy and influence
She was an important influence on younger female
According to Barney Hoskyns, the Band's 1975 song "Ophelia" was based on Pearl.[11] Pearl is also mentioned in the lyrics of the 1988 song "Punk Rock Girl" by the Dead Milkmen.[12][13]
In 1988, Pearl received the
She was friends with performers outside the country genre, including Elvis Presley, Dean Martin (she appeared on an episode of The Dean Martin Show), and Paul Reubens (Pee-wee Herman).[15] In 1992, Reubens made what would be his last appearance as Pee-wee Herman for 15 years at a Minnie Pearl tribute show.[16]
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.[citation needed]
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.
Books
Title | Publisher/Studio | Copyright[17] |
---|---|---|
Minnie Pearl's Diary | Greenberg | 1953 |
Minnie Pearl's Christmas at Grinder's Switch (With Tennessee Ernie Ford) | Abingdon Press | 1963 |
Minnie Pearl Cooks | Aurora Publishers | 1970 |
Minnie Pearl: An Autobiography (with Joan Dew) | Simon & Schuster | 1980 |
Christmas at Grinder's Switch (with Roy Acuff) | Abingdon Press | 1985 |
Best Jokes Minnie Pearl Ever Told (Plus a Few She Overheard!) (compiled by Kevin Kenworthy) | Rutledge Hill Press
|
1999 |
Recordings
Albums
Title | Record Label | Copyright[17] |
---|---|---|
Howdy! | Sunset | 1960 |
America's Beloved Minnie Pearl | Starday
|
1965 |
The Country Music Story | Starday
|
1966 |
Lookin' Fer a Feller | Starday
|
1967 |
Grandpa Jones and Minnie Pearl | RCA Camden | 1973 |
Selected guest appearances on albums
This list includes guest appearances on other stars' albums or appearances on "various artists" compilation albums.
Title | Record Label | Copyright[17] |
---|---|---|
Country Music Caravan | RCA Victor
|
1954 |
Hall of Fame (Vol. 9), (contributor) | Starday
|
c. 1969 |
Thunder on the Road | Starday
|
c. 1970 |
Stars of the Grand Ole Opry | RCA | 1974 |
Live at the Grand Ole Opry (With Hank Williams) | MGM
|
1976 |
New Harvest...First Gathering (Dolly Parton album; appears on the track "Applejack") | RCA | 1977 |
Backstage at the Grand Ole Opry | RCA | 1980 |
Surely You Joust (Ray Stevens album; appears on the track "Southern Air") | MCA | 1986 |
Out Among the Stars (Posthumous Johnny Cash album; appears on the track "If I Told You Who It Was", recorded in the 1980s) | Columbia Records | 2014 |
Singles
Minnie Pearl released a number of single records for
Pearl was back on RCA in 1974 when Archie Campbell and she 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.
Year | Title | US Country |
---|---|---|
1966 | "Giddyup Go – Answer" | 10 |
Notes
- ^ "Movies". The New York Times. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
- ^ O'Connor, John J. (October 26, 1992). "Review/Television; A Howdy to Minnie Pearl, Price Tags and All". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 26, 2009. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Minnie Pearl Inductee Biography, Country Music Hall of Fame website. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
- ^ a b c d James Manheim (All Music Guide), Minnie Pearl Biography, retrieved from the Country Music Television website, February 14, 2009.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-674-01488-6.
- ^ "Minnie Pearl Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
- ^ "MusicCityPearl.com". Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-17.
- ^ Bordsen, John (24 December 2000). "Nashville Country Here's Where The Music Stars Hang Their Hats". Dec. 24, 2000. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
- ^ "Creating a More Confident Cancer Journey | PearlPoint". Archived from the original on 2015-09-16.
- ^ "Expert Cancer Care Navigated Close to Home". Sarahcannon.com. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
- ASIN B001C4QHK0.
- ^ Huey, Steve. "Punk Rock Girl by Dead Milkmen | Song Review". AllMusic. Retrieved August 22, 2022.
- ISBN 978-0762496082.
- ^ "Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement". achievement.org. American Academy of Achievement.
- ^ "Paul Reubens interview". Archived from the original on October 5, 2008.
- ^ Lloyd, Robert (July 10, 2006). "Pee-wee's Back in the Limelight". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 17, 2020. Retrieved May 16, 2009.
- ^ a b c "LC Catalog - Legacy Catalog Retired". Catalog.loc.gov. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
- ^ Minnie Pearl Biography, CMT.com. Retrieved June 2, 2011.
References
- Kingsbury, Paul (1998). "Minnie Pearl". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 409–10.
- Pearl, Minnie with Joan Dew (1980). Minnie Pearl: An Autobiography. New York: Simon & Schuster.
- Sarah Cannon Cancer Center
- Sarah Cannon Research Institute
- The Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation
- Lifetime Honors – National Medal of Arts.