Grady Lee Nutt (September 2, 1934 – November 23, 1982) was a

Southern Baptist The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination, and the largest Protestant and second-largest Christian denomination in the United States. The word ...

minister,

humorist A humorist (American) or humourist (British spelling) is an intellectual who uses humor, or wit, in writing or public speaking, but is not an artist who seeks only to elicit laughs. Humorists are distinct from comedians, who are show business e ...

, television personality, and author. He was an uncle to performer

Joey Lauren Adams Joey Lauren Adams (born January 9, 1968) is an American actress and director. Adams starred in ''Chasing Amy'', for which she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and played smaller role ...

. His humor revolved around rural Southern

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

and earned him the title of "The Prime Minister of Humor".

Childhood and early career

Grady Lee Nutt was born in

Amarillo, Texas Amarillo ( ; Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Potter County. It is the 14th-most populous city in Texas and the largest city in the Texas Panhandle. A portion of the city extends into Randall County ...

, the oldest of four children (three sons and a daughter) born to Grady C. and Doris (''née'' Rickman) Nutt. Reared in a family of devout Baptists, Nutt was a licensed minister by the age of 13. Nutt briefly attended Wayland Baptist College in

Plainview, Texas Plainview is a city in and the county seat of Hale County, Texas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 22,194. Geography Plainview is located at (34.191204, –101.718806) and is located on the Llano Estacado. According ...

, before transferring to

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...

. Immediately after graduation, he married Eleanor Wilson and served as youth minister of the First Baptist Church of

Waco Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...

and later at Gaston Avenue Baptist Church in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

. In 1960, he moved to

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, to attend the

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) is a Baptist theological institute in Louisville, Kentucky. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. The seminary was founded in 1859 in Greenville, South Carolina, where it was at ...

, where he simultaneously pastored churches in the Louisville metro area. Following his graduation in 1964, he served as director of alumni affairs and assistant to the president of Southern Seminary.

Entertainment career

While serving as a minister and seminary administrator, Nutt began accepting speaking engagements. His speeches were blended with humor, and he came to the attention of

Ralph Edwards Ralph Livingstone Edwards (June 13, 1913DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . Pp. 86-87. – November 16, 2005) was an American radio ...

, the producer of the popular TV series ''Truth or Consequences'' and ''This Is Your Life''. He was soon a semi-regular on ''

The Mike Douglas Show ''The Mike Douglas Show'' was an American daytime television talk show that was hosted by Mike Douglas. It began as a local program in Cleveland before being carried on other stations owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting. The show went into nati ...

''. In 1979, he was added to the regular cast of ''

Hee Haw ''Hee Haw'' is an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with the fictional rural "Kornfield Kounty" as the backdrop. It aired first-run on CBS from 1969 to 1971, in syndication from 1971 to 1993, and on TNN from 199 ...

'', a position he held until his death. On ''Hee Haw'', he was given 90 – 120 seconds in which he would do an improvised routine. In 1981, he was cast as Rev. Grady Williams in a pilot for an

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

called ''The Grady Nutt Show''. The episode dealt with Rev. Williams being called to preach the funeral of a man disliked by the entire community, and dealing with his teenage daughter's foray into dating. The 30-minute pilot was broadcast on NBC, but had not been put into production as a series at the time of his death. During his career, he published several books, including ''The Gospel According to Norton'' and an autobiography entitled ''So Good, So Far''; he also released several comedic records and one Southern Gospel album, ''Give the World A Smile''.

Death and legacy

On November 23, 1982, following a speaking engagement in

Cullman, Alabama Cullman is the largest city and county seat of Cullman County, Alabama, United States. It is located along Interstate 65, about north of Birmingham and about south of Huntsville. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 14,775, with an ...

, Nutt boarded a chartered flight (a

Beechcraft Baron The Beechcraft Baron is a light twin-engined piston aircraft designed and produced by Beechcraft. The aircraft was introduced in 1961. A low-wing monoplane developed from the Travel Air, it remains in production. Design and development The di ...

55,

aircraft registration An aircraft registration is a code unique to a single aircraft, required by Chicago Convention, international convention to be marked on the exterior of every civil aircraft. The registration indicates the aircraft's country of registration, and ...

number N18411)."Accident Report, Cullman, Alabama"

National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incid ...

November 23, 1982. Retrieved February 1, 2009 The plane crashed immediately after takeoff, killing Nutt, the pilot and the co-pilot. The cause of the crash was undetermined, although weather conditions (fog and rain) were cited as contributing factors in the accident. He was buried on the Wilson family farm in Fayette County, Tennessee. Following his death, the

Gospel Music Association The Gospel Music Association (GMA) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1964 for the purpose of supporting and promoting the development of all forms of gospel music. As of 2011, there are about 4,000 members worldwide. The GMA's membership co ...

established the Grady Nutt Humor award to excellence in Christian comedy. His widow has established the Grady Nutt Endowment Fund at the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...

, which offers an annual prize of $400 to the most creative fine arts project and a Grady Nutt memorial collection was established in the student center at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville.

Alice Lloyd College Alice Lloyd College is a private work college in Pippa Passes, Kentucky. It was co-founded by the journalist Alice Spencer Geddes Lloyd (a native of Cambridge, Massachusetts) and June Buchanan (a native of New York City) in 1923, at first under t ...

Pippa Passes, Kentucky Pippa Passes is a home rule-class city located along Caney Fork in Knott County, eastern Kentucky, United States. Its formal name was chosen to honor benefactors of Alice Lloyd College. Residents commonly call the community "Caney" or "Caney Cree ...

, named the Grady Nutt Athletic Center in his honor.Athletic Facilities
,

References

External links

*
"Interview with Grady Nutt"
1981 interview on

Kentucky Educational Television Kentucky Educational Television (KET) is a state network of PBS member television stations serving the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky. It is operated by the Kentucky Authority for Educational Television, an agency of the Kentucky state governm ...

's ''Bywords''
Official Rev. Grady Nutt tribute website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nutt, Grady 1934 births 1982 deaths People from Amarillo, Texas American male comedians Southern Baptist ministers Accidental deaths in Alabama American male television actors 20th-century Protestant religious leaders Baylor University alumni Southern Baptist Theological Seminary alumni 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American comedians Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1982 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States 20th-century Baptist ministers from the United States