Trivia

When given the chance to have a lifelong dream fulfilled by such groups as the Make-A-Wish Foundation, several hundred terminally ill children have asked to meet Ernest. He never let them down.

Along with Robin Williams, Varney was one of Los Angeles's Comedy Store's original alumni.

Despite his persona as Ernest P. Worrell, he reportedly had a near genius I.Q. level. He was said to be occasionally exasperated with fans who met him and assumed he was exactly like the Worrell character he portrayed.

Was very good friends with Robin Williams.

Being good friends with actor Blake Clark, Clark took over the role of "Slinky Dog" in Toy Story 3 (2010), after Varney's death.

When he discovered he had lung cancer in August 1998, he reportedly threw away his cigarettes and quit smoking--cold turkey. Unfortunately, it was too late.

Included in a 1986 home video collection of Ernest commercials is a public service spot with Ernest trying to convince "Vern" to quit smoking, thus avoiding "The Big 'C'-Cancer. Chemotherapy City."

Between 1987 and 1990, Disney released four Ernest movies that generated a total of $100 million. Five more Ernest films were released independently, mainly for the video and television markets.

Known to fans as Ernest P. Worrell, his most famous character, who propelled him to the public eye. Ernest appeared in commercials "alongside" his off-camera friend Vern. Ernest would address the camera as if it were Vern.

Varney himself sang the song "Gee I'm Glad It's Raining" for his movie "Ernest Goes To Camp" in a single take. When he finished performing it for the movie, reportedly there wasn't a single dry eye on set.

Was a heavy smoker off-camera and died of lung cancer at age 50.

Almost 14 years after Varney's death, his nephew, Justin Lloyd, published a comprehensive biography about his uncle titled "The Importance of Being Ernest: The Life of Actor Jim Varney (Stuff that Vern doesn't even know)". [6 December 2013].

Remained good friends with his second wife Jane after their divorce and she became his spokesperson later in life.

Was a fan of The Beverly Hillbillies (1962). In fact, it was said to be his family's favorite show.

Studied Shakespeare at the Barter Theatre in Virginia and performed in a folk show during Opryland's first year of operation

Lived in Lexington, Kentucky while growing up, and graduated from Lafayette Senior High School with the class of 1968. He listed a former teacher, Thelma Beeler, as being one of the main contributing factors in his becoming an actor.

He was in a total of nine Ernest movies -or ten if the 89 made for tv movie ernest on splash mountain counts as an ernest film all but one and the made for TV one were directed by John Cherry.

According to an interview, one of his final projects was writing a screenplay about the legendary feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys, stating that his grandfather hunted squirrel with the Hatfields. Varney also allegedly had been hoping to acquire more serious acting roles before his death, wanting to step outside the typecast of Ernest.

He used to do commercials for the Dodge dealership in Henderson, Kentucky, sitting in the Dodge Viper "high in the sky."

Jim Varney died at about 4:45 am February 10, 2000 at his White House, Tennessee home. His sisters and his niece and nephew Justin Lloyd were at his bed side when he died.

The character of Ernest was actually introduced in a commercial for Bowling Green, Kentucky's Beech Bend Raceway Park.

Many people were pleasantly surprised to learn Varney had a rich baritone singing voice. As an example, Varney himself sang the song "Gee, I'm Glad It's Raining" in Ernest Goes To Camp, which he nailed on the very first take on set.

He had embarked on a letter-stage campaign to save Hey, Vern, It's Ernest! (1988), for the show's 2nd season, when it already canceled, due to low ratings, despite winning his 1st and only Emmy.

When Varney was a little boy, he displayed the ability to memorize long poems and significant portions of the material from books, which he used to entertain family and friends.

For some unknown reason he was not mentioned on the Toy Story 2 DVD Bonus Feature Segment: "Cast of Characters" despite the fact that he was Slinky Dog in the movie.

One of the companies he portrayed his beloved character Earnest for was the Kroger grocery store chain. These aired mainly in Tennessee, parts of Mississippi, and Ohio, where Kroger chains are predominate.

Standup comedy launched his TV career. His first national appearance came at age 25, when he embarked on the talk show circuit, that included The Merv Griffin Show (1962) and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962).

Shares his birthday with country singer Waylon Jennings who was one of his closest friends.

As his Ernest P. Worrell persona, he did advertisements for the Southern California auto mall Cerritos Auto Square. After his death, commercials now feature a CGI Ernest.

Youngest child and only son of James Albert Varney Sr (1910-1985) a boxer and Louise Varney (1913-1994) a psychologist. He has three older sisters.

Jim Varney was supposed to be in a movie called Pirates of the Plain, directed By John Cherry, but when he got sick, the lead went to Tim Curry instead. This somehow became a rumor that Jim was filming Ernest the Pirate, but died before it was finished.

Was friends with William Shatner.

As Ernest, Jim Varney used to do Purity Dairy commercials which ran in Nashville, TN.

Former advertising agent and director John R. Cherry III along with popular producer Andy Heyward wanted to do a live-action children's series that featured Varney (once again) as Ernest in Hey, Vern, It's Ernest! (1988), for CBS, because of his popularity with the commercials. Fortunately, he accepted the offer.

He was seen in Hank Williams Jr.'s video for "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight", in which he is briefly shown casually riding a bull being pulled on a rope by a young lady, and later in a swimming pool with two young ladies.

Had a recurring role on the final season of Roseanne (1988).

Was the voice of slinky dog in the first two toy story movies.

His final movie, "Ernest the Pirate" (2000) had nearly completed shooting at the time of his death, but got canceled and was never released.

Was of English, Scottish, German and Dutch descent.

Shares a birthday with another comedian named Jim. Jim Belushi.

Thanks to Robin Williams, Paul Reubens, and Varney himself, Kellen Pembleton had wanted to become an actor.