Keeper Of The Clown

Back in the early and mid-1980s I worked for an ad agency.  It was my job to come up with catchy slogans, interesting graphics and ad campaigns guaranteed to bring our clients money.

It was small agency and somehow we managed to squeak by.  No one ever became wealthy but we managed to keep a steady string of clients.

Every ad executive hopes to create that one 'special' ad campaign that sticks with people.  It's rare and often unexpected when one does occur.

I mentioned all this because John Cherry and I have a great deal in common only I never made the big time-John did.

He and his partner created a character that would go on to star in several movies, have his own Saturday morning children's TV show, star in several specials, have guest appearances at hundreds of live events and be the subject of a merchandising money maker.

I'm talking about Ernest P. Worrell, the bothersome neighbor of Vern (whom we never see) who became a nationwide phenomenon and much-beloved figure in homes across the globe.

Actor Jim Varney perfected the bumbling, boisterous and yet lovable Ernest persona to perfection.  An accomplished stage actor, Jim became so associated with his Ernest character fans often couldn't separate the two.

Pulled from obscurity to star in a series of local commercials the Ernest character caught on and before long was the star of thousands of commercials. 

He became so popular that people would call TV stations to find out when his commercials would play.

In Keeper Of the Clown My Life With Ernest, John Cherry  writes about the rise of Ernest and the machinations that took him from a local celebrity to a star of the Silver Screen.

Jim Varney's unconventional and wild lifestyle is never glossed over.  Mr. Cherry includes all the blemishes and warts and yet, he never passes judgment on Jim.  You can tell he cared a great deal about him and shows it by being perfectly honest about his virtues and vices.

Sadly Jim Varney passed away in 2000 from lung cancer but he never lost his sense of humor right up to the end.

Jim was only 50 years old when he died.  He would be 65 if he had lived and there is no telling what other comedic moments of genius he would have created.  Knowhutimean?