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
''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 1 ...
'' from 1969 to 1991.
Biography
Early life
Sarah Colley was born in
Centerville in
Hickman County, Tennessee
Hickman County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 24,925. Its county seat is Centerville. Hickman County was part of the Nashville–Davidson– Murfreesboro– Franklin, TN Metropol ...
, 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.
[Minnie Pearl Inductee Biography](_blank)
Country Music Hall of Fame website. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
She graduated from
Ward-Belmont College (now
Belmont University
Belmont University is a private Christian university in Nashville, Tennessee. Descended from Belmont Women's College, founded in 1890 by schoolteachers Ida Hood and Susan Heron, the institution was incorporated in 1951 as Belmont College. It be ...
), at the time Nashville's most prestigious school for young ladies, where she majored in theater studies and dance. She taught dance for the first few years after graduating.
[James Manheim (All Music Guide)]
Minnie Pearl Biography
retrieved from the Country Music Television website, February 14, 2009.
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
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
.
[
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.][ 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".][ Her first stage performance as Minnie Pearl was in 1939 in ]Aiken, South Carolina
Aiken is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Aiken County, in western South Carolina. It is one of the two largest cities of the Central Savannah River Area. Founded in 1835, Aiken was named after William Aiken, the president of the S ...
.[ Her now-famous 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.][ 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 is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...
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 "How-w-w-DEE-E-E-E! I'm jest so proud to be here!" delivered in a hearty holler. 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
Louis Marshall Jones (October 20, 1913 – February 19, 1998), known professionally as Grandpa Jones, was an American banjo player and "old time" country and gospel music singer. He is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.McCall, Michael; ...
.
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. By that time, his segregationist stance had hardened into the primary issue of his campaign.
Pearl drew much of her comic material from her hometown of Centerville, which she called Grinders Switch
Grinder's Switch is a location just outside Centerville, Tennessee, which consists of little more than the railroad switch for which it is named.
Significance to Minnie Pearl
Grinder's Switch was also the fictional hometown of the comic characte ...
. Grinders Switch was a community just outside Centerville that consisted of little more than a railroad switch. Those who knew her recognized that the characters were largely based on actual Centerville residents. So much traffic resulted from fans and tourists looking for Grinders Switch that the Hickman County Highway Department eventually changed the designation on the "Grinders Switch" road sign to "Hickman Springs Road".
Cannon portrayed Minnie Pearl for many years on television, first on ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
's ''Ozark Jubilee
''Ozark Jubilee'' is a 1950s United States network television program that featured country music's top stars of the day. It was produced in Springfield, Missouri. The weekly live stage show premiered on ABC-TV on January 22, 1955, was renamed ...
'' in the late 1950s; then on the long-running television series ''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 1 ...
'', both on CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
and the subsequent syndicated version. She made several appearances on NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
's ''The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford
''The Ford Show'' (also known as ''The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford'' and ''The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show'') is an American variety program, starring singer and folk humorist Tennessee Ernie Ford, which aired on NBC on Thursday eveni ...
''. She also appeared as a celebrity panelist on game shows such as ''Match Game
''Match Game'' is an American television panel game show that premiered on NBC in 1962 and has been revived several times over the course of the last six decades. The game features contestants trying to match answers given by celebrity panelis ...
'' in 1977 and 1978, and ''Hollywood Squares
''Hollywood Squares'' (originally ''The Hollywood Squares'') is an American game show in which two contestants compete in a game of tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The show Television pilot, piloted on NBC in 1965 and the regular series debut ...
'' in 1980. Her last regular performances on national television were on Ralph Emery
Walter Ralph Emery (March 10, 1933 – January 15, 2022) was an American country music disc jockey, radio and television host from Nashville, Tennessee.
Emery promoted numerous stars on his radio and TV shows, and was called the Dick Clark o ...
's ''Nashville Now'' country-music talk show on the former The Nashville Network (TNN) cable
Cable may refer to:
Mechanical
* Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof
* Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...
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'', appearing at the Opry as Minnie Pearl.
]
Family life
On February 23, 1947, Colley married Henry R. Cannon, who had been an Army Air Corps Army Air Corps may refer to the following army aviation corps:
* Army Air Corps (United Kingdom), the army aviation element of the British Army
* Philippine Army Air Corps (1935–1941)
* United States Army Air Corps (1926–1942), or its p ...
fighter pilot during World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
and was then a partner in an air charter
Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline).
Regulation
Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flights ...
service. After the wedding, 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
Richard Edward Arnold (May 15, 1918 – May 8, 2008) was an American country music singer who performed for six decades. He was a Nashville sound (country/popular music) innovator of the late 1950s, and scored 147 songs on the ''Billboard'' cou ...
, Colonel Tom Parker
Thomas Andrew Parker (born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk; June 26, 1909 January 21, 1997), , Hank Williams, Carl Smith, Webb Pierce
Michael Webb Pierce (August 8, 1921 – February 24, 1991) was an American honky-tonk vocalist, songwriter and guitarist of the 1950s, one of the most popular of the genre, charting more number one hits than any other country artist during the ...
, and Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
.[ The couple had no children.][ In 1969 they purchased a large estate home in Nashville next door to the ]Tennessee Governor
The governor of Tennessee is the head of government of the U.S. state of Tennessee. The governor is the only official in Tennessee state government who is directly elected by the voters of the entire state.
The current governor is Bill Lee, a ...
's mansion. Cannon attended Brentwood Methodist Church, just to the south of Nashville, where she also donated the pipe organ.
Chicken restaurants
In the late 1960s Nashville entrepreneur John Jay Hooker
John Jay Hooker, Jr. (August 24, 1930 – January 24, 2016) was an American attorney, entrepreneur, political gadfly and perennial candidate from Nashville, Tennessee, who was the Democratic nominee for Governor of Tennessee in 1970 and 1998 ...
persuaded Cannon and gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...
singer Mahalia Jackson
Mahalia Jackson ( ; born Mahala Jackson; October 26, 1911 – January 27, 1972) was an American gospel singer, widely considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century. With a career spanning 40 years, Jackson was integral to ...
to lend their names to a chain of fried chicken restaurant
A fried chicken restaurant is a fast food restaurant, often a chain, that serves (mainly) fried chicken—usually chunks of chicken, battered or breaded and deep-fried.
United States
The concept of the fried chicken restaurant originated i ...
s 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
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...
cleared both Cannon and Jackson of involvement in financial wrongdoings, but both were embarrassed by the negative publicity.
Cancer research
After battling breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a r ...
through aggressive treatments, including a double mastectomy
Mastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely. A mastectomy is usually carried out to treat breast cancer. In some cases, women believed to be at high risk of breast cancer have the operat ...
and radiation therapy
Radiation therapy or radiotherapy, often abbreviated RT, RTx, or XRT, is a therapy using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of cancer treatment to control or kill malignant cells and normally delivered by a linear accelerator. Radi ...
, 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 at least twenty other hospitals in Middle Tennessee
Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of the U.S. state of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the ...
, southern Kentucky, Richmond, Virginia, Kansas City, Missouri, Gainesville, Florida, and the UK. Her name has also been lent to the affiliated Sarah Cannon Research Institute
Sarah Cannon Research Institute (SCRI) is a research organization focusing on therapies for patients which include drugs that are in development. With corporate headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, it conducts community-based clini ...
.
Final years
Cannon suffered a debilitating stroke in June 1991,[ bringing her performing career to an end. After the stroke, she resided in a Nashville ]nursing home
A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to i ...
, where she received frequent visits from country-music industry figures, including Chely Wright
Chely Wright (born Richell Rene Wright; October 25, 1970) is an American activist, author and country music artist. She initially rose to fame as a commercial country recording artist with several charting singles, including the number one hit ...
, Vince Gill
Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman of the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s and as a solo artist ...
, and Amy Grant
Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She began in contemporary Christian music (CCM) before crossing over to pop music in the 1980s and 1990s. She has been referred to as "The Queen of Christia ...
. 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 is a city in and county seat of Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. About south of Nashville, it is one of the principal cities of the Nashville metropolitan area and Middle Tennessee. As of 2020, its population was 83,454 ...
.
Legacy and influence
She was an important influence on younger female country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
singers and rural humorists such as Jerry Clower
Howard Gerald "Jerry" Clower (September 28, 1926 – August 24, 1998) was an American stand-up comedian. Born and raised in the state of Mississippi, Clower was best known for his stories of the rural South and was given the nickname "The Mouth o ...
, Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall
William Ray Engvall Jr. (born July 27, 1957) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and television host. Engvall has released a number of stand-up comedy albums through Warner Records and the defunct BNA Records. His most commercially success ...
, Carl Hurley, David L Cook
David L. Cook (born November 11, 1968) is an American Christian country music singer, songwriter and comedian.
Born to Donnell and June (née Mercer) Cook, David is the oldest of six children. He has written more than 2,500 songs and has won ...
, Chonda Pierce
Chonda Ruth Pierce (née Courtney, born March 4, 1960), is a Christian comedian often billed as "The Queen of Clean."
Background
She was born, Chonda Ruth Courtney, in Covington, Kentucky, on March 4, 1960, while she was raised in South Carolina ...
, Ron White, and Larry the Cable Guy
Daniel Lawrence Whitney (born February 17, 1963), known professionally by his persona Larry the Cable Guy, is an American stand-up comedian, actor, producer, country music artist, and former radio personality.
He was one of the members of the ...
. 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.
According to Barney Hoskyns
Barney Hoskyns (born 5 May 1959) is a British music critic and editorial director of the online music journalism archive Rock's Backpages.
Biography
Hoskyns graduated from Oxford with a first class degree in English. He began writing about mus ...
, the Band's 1975 song "Ophelia
Ophelia () is a character in William Shakespeare's drama '' Hamlet'' (1599–1601). She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes and potential wife of Prince Hamlet, who, due to Hamlet's actions, ends u ...
" was based on Pearl. Pearl is also mentioned in the lyrics of the 1988 song "Punk Rock Girl
"Punk Rock Girl" is a song by American rock band the Dead Milkmen. It was the first single released from the band's fourth album '' Beelzebubba'' (1988). Released in December 1988, the track was primarily composed by guitarist and vocalist Joe ...
" by the Dead Milkmen
The Dead Milkmen is an American punk rock band formed in 1983 in Philadelphia. Their original lineup consisted of vocalist and keyboardist Rodney Linderman ("Rodney Anonymous"), guitarist and vocalist Joe Genaro ("Joe Jack Talcum"), bassist Da ...
.
She was friends with performers outside the country genre, including Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
, Dean Martin (she appeared on an episode of ''The Dean Martin Show
''The Dean Martin Show'', not to be confused with the ''Dean Martin Variety Show'' (1959–1960), is a TV variety-comedy series that ran from 1965 to 1974 for 264 episodes. It was broadcast by NBC and hosted by Dean Martin. The theme song to the ...
''), and Paul Reubens
Paul Reubens (; born Rubenfeld; August 27, 1952) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and children's entertainer. He is known for his character Pee-wee Herman. Reubens joined the Los Angeles troupe The Groundlings in the 1970s, an ...
(Pee-wee Herman). In 1992, Reubens made what would be his last appearance as Pee-wee Herman for 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 (also known as Grand Ole Opry House and Union Gospel Tabernacle) is a 2,362-seat live-performance venue located at 116 Rep. John Lewis Way North, in Nashville, Tennessee. It is best known as the home of the ''Grand Ole Opry'' fr ...
. Chely Wright
Chely Wright (born Richell Rene Wright; October 25, 1970) is an American activist, author and country music artist. She initially rose to fame as a commercial country recording artist with several charting singles, including the number one hit ...
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
Opryland USA (later called Opryland Themepark and colloquially "Opryland") was a theme park in suburban Nashville, Tennessee. It operated seasonally (generally March to October) from 1972 to 1997, and for a special Christmas-themed engagement eve ...
(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
Recordings
Albums
Selected guest appearances on albums
This list includes guest appearances on other stars' albums or appearances on "various artists" compilation albums.
Singles
Minnie Pearl released a number of single records for RCA Victor during the 1950s, including a few duets with Grandpa Jones. During this period, she also made guest appearances on records by Chet Atkins
Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), known as "Mr. Guitar" and "The Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nashville sound, the country music ...
and Ernest Tubb
Ernest Dale Tubb (February 9, 1914 – September 6, 1984), 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" (1941), ...
. In the 1960s, she moved to Starday Records. At age 54, she recorded a top-10 hit for Starday, "Giddyup Go – Answer", a response to Red Sovine
Woodrow Wilson "Red" Sovine (July 7, 1917 – April 4, 1980) was an American country music singer and songwriter associated with truck driving songs, particularly those recited as narratives but set to music. His most noted examples are "Giddy ...
's classic "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" was Sovine's second No. ...
".Minnie Pearl Biography
CMT.com. Retrieved June 2, 2011. She later recorded with Sovine and Buddy Starcher in other single releases.
Pearl was back on RCA in 1974 when Archie Campbell and she released a parody record of Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn (; April 14, 1932 – October 4, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. In a career spanning six decades, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had numerous hits such as "You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Ma ...
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
Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...
's '' New Harvest...First Gathering'' album, singing on the song "Applejack". In 1986, she was a featured guest vocalist, along with Jerry Clower
Howard Gerald "Jerry" Clower (September 28, 1926 – August 24, 1998) was an American stand-up comedian. Born and raised in the state of Mississippi, Clower was best known for his stories of the rural South and was given the nickname "The Mouth o ...
, on the Ray Stevens
Harold Ray Ragsdale (born January 24, 1939), known professionally as Ray Stevens, is an American country and pop singer-songwriter and comedian, known for his Grammy-winning recordings " Everything Is Beautiful" and " Misty", as well as novel ...
comedy single entitled "Southern Air". It charted in the top 70 of '' Billboard''.
Notes
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
External links
Minnie Pearl at the Country Music Hall of Fame
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearl, Minnie
1912 births
1996 deaths
20th-century American comedians
20th-century American singers
American country singer-songwriters
American women country singers
American women comedians
Country Music Hall of Fame inductees
Grand Ole Opry members
King Records artists
People from Centerville, Tennessee
People from Nashville, Tennessee
RCA Victor artists
Starday Records artists
Singer-songwriters from Tennessee
United States National Medal of Arts recipients
Ward–Belmont College alumni
20th-century American women singers
Country musicians from Tennessee
Methodists from Tennessee