Minnie Pearl

Sarah Ophellia Colley Cannon (October 25, 1912 – March 4, 1996) was known professionally as Minnie Pearl. She was America’s best-loved country comic, who appeared at the Grand Ole Opry for more than 50 years (from 1940 to 1991) and on the television variety show “Hee Haw” from 1969 to 1991. Sarah Colley was the daughter of a successful lumber salesman. She graduated from Ward-Belmont College, at that time, Nashville’s most prestigious school for young ladies. After graduation, she taught dance and dreamed of becoming a Broadway star. She produced and directed plays for a touring theater company throughout the South during the Great Depression, and developed her Minnie Pearl routine to promote the group’s shows. She first appeared on the Grand Ole Opry on November 30, 1940 and, over the next five decades, became a legendary country comedienne. Pearl’s comedy was gentle satire of rural Southern culture. She always dressed onstage in “down home” dresses and wore a hat with a price tag hanging from it, displaying the price of $1.98. Her catch phrase was “How-w-w-DEE-E-E-E! I’m jes so proud to be here!” delivered in a loud holler. She suffered a serious stroke in June 1991, three years after addressing the students at the 1988 Academy of Achievement Summit in Nashville, Tennessee. In 2002, she was ranked as one of the 15 greatest women in the history of country music. A bronze statue of Minnie Pearl is displayed in the lobby of the famed Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.