Bambi and Thumper will be devastated.
I will always remember his (brief) role as Willard White (Howard Hughes) in “Diamonds Are Forever”:
WW (to James Bond): “I see you ran into Bambi”
JB: “Yes, most unpleasant”
I’m surprised by those of you who are surprised that he was in “Diamonds Are Forever.” That’s pretty much the *only *thing I know him for…TRM (more of a Bond geek than country music geek)
Just amazing. I just went to Wikipedia and his page just got started today. He wasn’t important enough to have one before.
I knew him from the 1950s when I grew up in Arlington VA, outside Washington DC
He was a second rate country singer who got lucky and hooked up with a very successful radio/tv owner, Connie B. Gay. His career got a big boost after that.
WMAL tv, channel 7, ABC. “Town and Country Time.” He played the accordion. (That’ll get the girls.)
Baloney!
Since it hasn’t been said yet, I thought Jimmy Dean died years ago. I guess he was just fired as the TV spokesman.
I have never heard James “Rebel Without a Cause” Dean referred to as Jimmy outside of the play. Not saying it doesn’t happen, but he was always credited as James and that’s how most film historians and fans continue to refer to him.
The sausage guy was always Jimmy, and Jimmy was always the sausage guy. Although I had some vague awareness that he was a celebrity before getting into the meat business, I didn’t realize until seeing this thread that he sang “Big Bad John.”
And even then, was James Dean actually referred to as “Jimmy Dean?” I know that they referred to the unseen kid as “Jimmy Dean,” but I don’t recall how they referred to the actor.
Ah, the nights I stayed up late listening to “Dear Ivan.” Now that was a party record!