under appreciated (except by roger miller)
Do you know who was under appreciated by Hollywood and the American public? ERNEST. That's who. JIM VARNEY.
He was a genius and was overlooked because he was typecast in the Ernest role.
If you watch those movies you'll notice that although the scripts are a bit weak, Jim Varney is incredible.
Take "Ernest Goes to Jail" where he plays multiple roles. He DISAPPEARS into those characters. You can see it in his eyes.
Look at the "Beverly Hillbillies" (one of the first Hollywood TV show remakes). He NAILS Jed Clampett perfectly.
Jim was in reality, a classically trained actor. I think if Jim had been put in the hands of say, the Coen Brothers (which I think would've been a perfect match), he would be have been considered one of America's great actors.
It is truly rare to have such a pure talent work for so long, be put in so many useless roles, and gain so little recognition. Jim Varney's death gained more press time than all of his cinematic works combined, which, admittedly, still didn't amount to very much.
However, there was ONE person in the industry that recognized his talents. Guess who? ROGER FUCKING MILLER. Roger Miller apparently LOVED Jim varney and offered him the role of Pappy Finn in BIG RIVER which was on Broadway at the time. Unfortunately Jim was locked into a shitty movie contract and was not allowed to do the role. Jim said he was almost in tears. Roger even offered him a short six week run but Hollywood would still not let him do it. Thanks a lot fuckers.
Varney was described as Mr. Rogers meets Roger Miller meets Buck Rogers meets Roger Rabbit. He walked blindly with only his pure heart and comic innocence to lead him. In a way, he was a live action version of Kermit; honest, innocent, and determined.
God bless Jim Varney. I wish he was still alive. Too bad he didn't have Jim Carrey's agent. In fact, who DID represent Jim Varney? They need to be killed. They obviously DID NOT understand what he was capable of and did a poor job of mapping out his career. But then again... maybe that's Jim's fault? Perhaps he was too humble to bitch.
Whatever. I love Jim Varney.
He was a genius and was overlooked because he was typecast in the Ernest role.
If you watch those movies you'll notice that although the scripts are a bit weak, Jim Varney is incredible.
Take "Ernest Goes to Jail" where he plays multiple roles. He DISAPPEARS into those characters. You can see it in his eyes.
Look at the "Beverly Hillbillies" (one of the first Hollywood TV show remakes). He NAILS Jed Clampett perfectly.
Jim was in reality, a classically trained actor. I think if Jim had been put in the hands of say, the Coen Brothers (which I think would've been a perfect match), he would be have been considered one of America's great actors.
It is truly rare to have such a pure talent work for so long, be put in so many useless roles, and gain so little recognition. Jim Varney's death gained more press time than all of his cinematic works combined, which, admittedly, still didn't amount to very much.
However, there was ONE person in the industry that recognized his talents. Guess who? ROGER FUCKING MILLER. Roger Miller apparently LOVED Jim varney and offered him the role of Pappy Finn in BIG RIVER which was on Broadway at the time. Unfortunately Jim was locked into a shitty movie contract and was not allowed to do the role. Jim said he was almost in tears. Roger even offered him a short six week run but Hollywood would still not let him do it. Thanks a lot fuckers.
Varney was described as Mr. Rogers meets Roger Miller meets Buck Rogers meets Roger Rabbit. He walked blindly with only his pure heart and comic innocence to lead him. In a way, he was a live action version of Kermit; honest, innocent, and determined.
God bless Jim Varney. I wish he was still alive. Too bad he didn't have Jim Carrey's agent. In fact, who DID represent Jim Varney? They need to be killed. They obviously DID NOT understand what he was capable of and did a poor job of mapping out his career. But then again... maybe that's Jim's fault? Perhaps he was too humble to bitch.
Whatever. I love Jim Varney.
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