Music legend, T.V. star and sausage king Jimmy Dean died Sunday at his Henrico County, Va. home. He was 81. Though Dean had health issues, his wife, Donna Mead Dean said that his death was a surprise.
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“He was amazing,” she said. “He had a lot of talents.”
Born in 1928, Dean grew up in poverty in Plainview, Texas and dropped out of high school after the ninth grade.
Dean began his music career in the 1940s as an accordionist at a tavern near Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, D.C., where he was stationed. After he was discharged, he led a band, the Texas Wildcats, which had a strong local following because of their Washington-area radio appearances. The band had a national hit in the 1950s with “Bummin’ Around.”
Dean struck out on his own and had a number one country hit with 1961’s “Big Bad John.” Dean then broke into television. “The Jimmy Dean Show” was nationally broadcast from 1963 to 1966, which introduced the world to the Muppets. Apart from engaging in his own television ventures, he was the first guest host of the tonight show “The Tonight Show.”
In 1969, the Texan crooner went into the sausage business, starting the Jimmy Dean Meat Co. in his hometown. He sold the company in 1984 to Sara Lee Corp.
Dean also found success on the big screen as James Bond’s sidekick in “Diamonds are Forever.”
By the early ‘90s, his fortune was estimated at $75 million. Though Dean experienced tremendous success in the sausage industry, Sandra Lee Corp fired him as the product’s spokesman in 2003.
“The company told me that they were trying to attract the younger housewife, and they didn’t think I was the one to do that,” Dean told The Associated Press in January 2004. “I think it’s the dumbest thing. But you know, what do I know?”
Dean was inducted to the Country Music Hall of Fame in February.
He is survived by his wife, three children and two grandchildren.