James Albert Varney Jr. (June 15, 1949, in Nashville, Tennessee – February 10, 2000) better known as Jim Varney was an American actor, best known for his character Ernest P. Worrell, originally created by Nashville advertising agency Carden and Cherry in the 1980s. The character was used in numerous television commercial campaigns in the following years.

Television commercial career

---

The first commercial as Ernest, filmed in 1980, was to advertise an appearance by the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders at Beech Bend Park, an amusement park located near Bowling Green, Kentucky. The character was franchised for use in markets all over the country, and was often used by dairies to advertise milk products. For example, the Midwestern dairy bar chain Braums ran several advertisements using Ernest's trademark catchphrase, "Know what I mean, Vern?" Purity Dairies, based in Varney's hometown of Nashville, ran commercials that were nearly identical, but with the name changed.

For the same agency, Varney created a different character, "Sgt. Glory", a humorless drill instructor who harangued cows of the client's dairy into producing better milk. In another spot, Glory's home was shown as he had a date, and was so heavily decorated with the products of the sponsor and advertising specialty items for it that it was essentially devoid of any other decor.

More on [ Jim Varney ]

Kiefer Sutherland TV Person - Kiefer Sutherland Television Person - TV.com

[News] Jack Bauer off to jail
Wed, 10 Oct 2007 11:34:00 -0700
Kiefer Sutherland makes plea for drunk-driving arrest; opts for more jail time so 24 will keep on ticking.
[News] Kiefer Sutherland arrested for drunken driving
Tue, 25 Sep 2007 09:36:00 -0700
24 star sets great example for drivers everywhere.
[Photos] © 2007 Jean Baptiste Lacroix/WireImage.com
Mon, 17 Sep 2007 13:24:50 -0700
[Photos] © 2007 Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage.com
Mon, 17 Sep 2007 12:06:37 -0700
[Photos] © 2007 John Shearer/WireImage.com
Sun, 16 Sep 2007 21:50:43 -0700
[Photos] © 2007 John Shearer/WireImage.com
Sun, 16 Sep 2007 21:50:36 -0700

Subscribe to Acting RSS feed