Jimmy Dean (b. Jimmy Ray Dean August 10, 1928, in Plainview, Texas) is an American country music singer, television host, actor, and businessman. Although he may be best known today as the founder of the Jimmy Dean Food Company, he first rose to fame for his country crossover hits like "Big Bad John," and for his television appearances.
Dean may have been born and lived in the small unincorporated community of Seth Ward just northeast of Plainview. Dean was to attribute his music interest to the Seth Ward Baptist Church. The Seth Ward name has prompted some biographies to erroneously say that his birth name was Seth Ward.
Jimmy Dean became a professional entertainer after a stint in the U.S. Air Force in the late 1940s. He became the host of the popular Washington D.C. TV program Town and Country Time and, with his Texas Wildcats, became favorites in the region. Both Patsy Cline and Roy Clark got their starts with Dean, who eventually fired Clark, his lead guitarist, for his chronic tardiness. Dean replaced Clark with Billy Grammer. Patsy Cline and Dean were good friends during the run of the Town Country Time TV show in the mid-50s. He had his first hit, "Bummin' Around," in 1953, but had no other hits for the rest of the decade. He also had a passion for the Mexican burrito, which he called "delectable enough for my auntie Geraldine."
Dean went on to New York in the 1950s where he hosted another TV variety show for CBS and signed with Columbia Records. For several years in the late 50's and early 60's, he was a host of the CBS News Morning Show which aired prior to Captain Kangaroo.
He became best known for his 1961 recitation song about a heroic miner, "Big Bad John." Recorded in Nashville, the record went to No.1 on the Billboard pop charts and inspired many imitations and parodies. The song won Dean the 1962 Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Recording. He had several more Top 40 songs including a Top 10 in 1962 with "PT-109", a song in honor of John F. Kennedy's heroism in World War II.
In the early 1960s, he hosted the Tonight Show on occasion and one night introduced Roy Clark, with whom he'd remained friendly, to a national audience. His mid-1960s ABC television variety show, The Jimmy Dean Show, was one of the first to regularly present country music entertainers to a mainstream audience, including Roger Miller, George Jones, Charlie Rich, Buck Owens and a few like Joe Maphis, who seldom got any network TV exposure. He's also remembered for his sketches with one of Jim Henson's muppets, Rowlf the Dog. Many guests who were not related to country music appeared on the show.
When the show ended in the late 1960s, he began to dabble in acting. His best-known role was that of millionaire Willard Whyte in the 1971 James Bond movie, Diamonds Are Forever. Dean also continued to perform music concerts around the U.S.
Because of the similarities in their names, Jimmy Dean is sometimes confused with actor James Dean (who was also nicknamed "Jimmy") in song lyric references such as Madonna's "Vogue" or David Essex's "Rock On."
Dean's singing career remained strong into the mid 1960's and in 1965, he achieved a second number 1 country hit with the ballad "The First Thing Every Morning (And The Last Thing Every Night)" and had a Top 40 hit that year with "Harvest of Sunshine". In 1966, Dean signed with RCA Records and immediately had a Top 10 hit with "Stand Beside Me". His other major hits during this time included "Sweet Misery" (1967) and "A Thing Called Love" (1968). He continued having hits well into the early 1970s with his major hits during this time included a duet with Dottie West called "Slowly" (1971) and a solo hit with "The One You Say Good Morning To" (1972).
In 1976, he achieved a million seller with a recitation song as a tribute to his mother and mothers everywhere called "I.O.U.". The song was released a few weeks before Mother's Day and quickly became a Top 10 country hit, his first one in a decade, and a Top 40 pop hit, his first one in 14 years. The song was re-released 3 more times in 1977, 1983 and 1984 but with minor success each time.
In 1969, he founded the Jimmy Dean Sausage Company with his brother Don and James M Dean grandson of Sam E Dean (Deans Milk Co.). Despite ups and downs (some revolving around his problems with his partner-brother Don Dean), the company did well, in part due to Dean's own extemporized, humor-themed commercials.
Its success led to its acquisition in 1984 by Consolidated Foods, later renamed the Sara Lee Corporation. Dean remained involved in running the company but the new corporate parent eventually began phasing him out of any management duties, a period that took a toll on his health. In January 2004, Dean said that the Sara Lee company had dropped him as the spokesman for the sausage brand.
Most notable character he played as an actor was Willard Whyte in the 1971 James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever (film).
As a Virginia resident since 1990, he was inducted into the Virginia Country Music Hall of Fame in 1997. Former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore appointed Dean to the Virginia Board of Game and Inland Fisheries, which oversees the state's wildlife efforts and regulates the boating laws.
In the fall of 2004, he released his blunt, straight-talking autobiography, 30 Years of Sausage, 50 Years of Ham. Today, Dean lives in semiretirement with second wife Donna Meade Dean, a singer, songwriter, and recording artist he married in 1991 who helped him write his book. The couple lives on private property at historic Chaffin's Bluff overlooking the James River on the outskirts of Richmond, Virginia.
Jimmy has three children, Garry, Connie, Robert and two granddaughters, Caroline Taylor (Connie's Daughter) and Brianna Dean (Robert's Daughter). Caroline and Brianna are very close and both honors students in the state of New Jersey.
Dean, who dropped out of high school in 1946 to work to help his mother, announced on May 20, 2008, that he is donating $1 million to Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, the largest gift ever from one individual to the institution. "I've been so blessed, and it makes me proud to give back, especially to my hometown."
