Rodney Leon Brasfield (August 22, 1910 – September 12, 1958) was an American comedian who was prominently featured on the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a divis ...

from 1947 until his death in 1958. In 1987, he was inducted into the

Country Music Hall of Fame The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the world's largest museums and research centers dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of American vernacular music. Chartered in 1964, the museum has amass ...

Life and career

Brasfield was born in

Smithville, Mississippi Smithville is a town in Monroe County, Mississippi. The population was 509 at the 2020 census. Smithville is the birthplace of Rod Brasfield, a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. History Smithville is located on lands purchased from Chi ...

, United States. He began his career in the late 1920s with Bisbee's Dramatic Shows, a touring tent

repertory A repertory theatre is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation. United Kingdom Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawing ...

troupe, serving as a

straight man The straight man is a stock character in a comedy performance, especially a double act, sketch comedy, or farce. When a comedy partner behaves eccentrically, the straight man is expected to maintain composure. The direct contribution to the ...

for his older brother, actor and comedian Boob Brasfield. In 1931, he married Eleanor Humphrey, a Hohenwald, Tennessee school teacher. Brasfield was recruited by

George D. Hay George Dewey Hay (November 9, 1895 – May 8, 1968) was an American radio personality, announcer and newspaper reporter. He was the founder of the original ''Grand Ole Opry'' radio program on WSM-AM in Nashville, Tennessee, from which the cou ...

for the

in 1944. With his trademark baggy suit, battered hat and rubbery face, he could make audiences laugh before he spoke a word. He soon became the primary comic on ''The Prince Albert Show'', the Opry's

NBC Radio The National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (known as the NBC Red Network prior to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in operation from 1926 through 2004. Along with the NBC Blue Network it was one of the first t ...

broadcast, playing off the show’s host,

Red Foley Clyde Julian "Red" Foley (June 17, 1910 – September 19, 1968) was an American musician who made a major contribution to the growth of country music after World War II. For more than two decades, Foley was one of the biggest stars of the gen ...

. Assuming the role of a hapless hayseed, he often poked fun at country life—always with good humor. He formed a double act in 1948 with

Minnie Pearl 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 ...

, playing what she referred to as "double comedy", in which each of them delivered alternating punch lines and neither played the straight man. Some of these routines were broadcast on the Opry's live

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 ...

television network show from 1955–56. He lived in Hohenwald, called himself the Hohenwald Flash, and often mentioned the local restaurant (which he once owned), the Snip-Snap-and-Bite, in his routines. Brasfield sometimes did

ventriloquist Ventriloquism, or ventriloquy, is a performance act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) creates the illusion that their voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a puppeteered prop known as a "dummy". The act of ventriloquism is v ...

routines with a dummy named Bocephus, after whom Hank Williams Sr. nicknamed his then-infant son

Hank Williams Jr. Randall Hank Williams (born May 26, 1949), known professionally as Hank Williams Jr. or Bocephus, is an American singer-songwriter and musician. His musical style is often considered a blend of southern rock, blues, and country. He is the son of ...

; and also did comedy with

June Carter June is the sixth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the second of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the third of five months to have a length of less than 31 days. June contains the summer solstice in t ...

. In March 1956, Brasfield appeared with

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 ...

at Atlanta's Fox Theatre. In '' A Face in the Crowd'' (1957) he played

Andy Griffith Andy Samuel Griffith (June 1, 1926 – July 3, 2012) was an American actor, comedian, television producer, southern gospel singer and writer whose career spanned seven decades in music and television. Known for his Southern drawl, his characte ...

’s ex-con sidekick, and appeared in ''

Country Music Holiday ''Country Music Holiday'' is a 1958 American musical film directed by Alvin Ganzer and written by Harry Spalding. The film stars Ferlin Husky, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Rocky Graziano, Faron Young, Al Fisher, Lou Marks and June Carter Cash. The film was ...

'' (1958).

Heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...

combined with an ongoing problem with alcohol abuse, led to his death at age 48 in 1958 in Martin, Tennessee. He is buried in Smithville.

Filmography

References

Other sources

* ''Encyclopedia of Country Music'', Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum (Oxford University Press) * Faye, Byron "Remembering Rod Brasfield", ''FayFair's Opry Blog'', August 22, 2011 * ''Rod Brasfield - Smithville'' at the Mississippi Country Music Trail

External links

At the Country Music Hall of Fame
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brasfield, Rod 1910 births 1958 deaths American country singer-songwriters American male comedians American radio personalities Country Music Hall of Fame inductees Grand Ole Opry members People from Monroe County, Mississippi Singer-songwriters from Mississippi People from Hohenwald, Tennessee 20th-century American comedians 20th-century American singers Country musicians from Tennessee Country musicians from Mississippi Singer-songwriters from Tennessee