Jun 23 12
The Serious Side Of Jim Varney
Jim Varney was much more than the funny man Earnest P. Worrell, he had many passions in his life and took them very seriously. Jim, had a near genius I.Q. level and he was passionate about Shakespeare. This was a huge influence on him, and the leading source for him studying Shakespeare at the Barter Theatre in Virginia. He actually wanted to do a play about the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s. His grandfather, used to go fishing with the McCoy’s in Kentucky and Jim had fond memories of the stories his grandfather would tell him as a child.. Jim also visited terminally ill children in his “Ernest” persona, he loved doing this for the children and he was never known to have turned down a single request. Jim also found it shocking when people found out he was not like the Earnest character, he found it amusing. On a sad note, Jim knew the dangers of smoking, he even did a public service announcement in the Earnest character trying to get Vern to stop smoking. He always wanted to stop smoking but never could.
Take a look here to learn more: McCoy Interviewed on Dan Patrick Show