Early career Varney had an established acting career before his fame as Ernest. In 1976, Varney was a regular cast member of the television show
Johnny Cash and Friends. In 1977–78, he appeared as recurring guest Virgil Simms on the talk show parody
Fernwood 2 Night and
America 2 Night. From 1977 to 1979, Varney was cast as Seaman "Doom & Gloom" Broom in the television version of
Operation Petticoat. Just prior to his stint as Ernest, he was a cast member on the notorious television flop
Pink Lady and Jeff. In 1978, Varney played Milo Skinner on the TV show
Alice.
Work for Carden and Cherry Varney's best-known character is
Ernest P. Worrell, who would address the camera as if speaking to a friend, using his trademarked
catchphrase "Knowhutimean, Vern?" In 1980, the first commercial featuring the character advertised an appearance by the
Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders at
Beech Bend Park, an
amusement park located near
Bowling Green, Kentucky. The character was franchised for use in markets all over the country and was often used by
dairies to advertise milk products. For example, the ice cream and hamburger chain
Braum's ran several advertisements featuring Ernest;
Purity Dairies, based in Nashville, Pine State Dairy in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Oakhurst Dairy in Maine ran commercials that were nearly identical, but with the dairy name changed. For the same agency, Varney created a different character, Sgt. Glory, a humorless
drill instructor who harangued cows of the client dairy into producing better milk. In another spot, Sgt. Glory's home was shown, which was so heavily decorated with the products of the sponsor and advertising specialty items that it was essentially devoid of any other decor. The Sgt. Glory character also appeared in an advertisement for a Southern grocery chain, Pruett's Food Town, in which he drilled the checkout clerks on proper behavior: "Bread on top. Repeat: Bread on top." He approaches one of them at the end of the commercial with a look of menace and says, "You're not smilin'." The checkout bagger gives a very nervous and forced smile. Varney also starred as Ernest in a series of commercials that ran in the
New Orleans area (and throughout the
Gulf South) as a spokesman for natural gas utilities. In one, he is seen kneeling down in front of Vern's desk under a lamp hanging from the ceiling, stating, "Natural gas, Vern; it's hot, fast, and cheap. Hot, fast, cheap; kinda like your first wife, Vern, you know, the pretty one!?" Vern then knocks the lamp into Ernest's head, knocking him down. Those same television advertisements also were featured on channels in the
St. Louis area for
Laclede Gas Company during the mid-1980s and in the metro Detroit area for Michigan Consolidated Gas Company. Another TV ad for Laclede Gas featured Ernest saying, "Heat pump, schmeat pump." Varney also appeared in several Braum's Ice Cream and Dairy Stores commercials throughout the 1980s. These aired on Oklahoma television. He made commercials for car dealerships across the country, most notably
Cerritos Auto Square in
Cerritos, California, Tysons Toyota in
Tysons Corner, Virginia, and Audubon Chrysler in
Henderson, Kentucky. Varney portrayed Ernest in a series of commercials for
Convenient Food Mart during the 1980s. In 1982, Varney co-hosted the syndicated
Pop! Goes the Country with singer
Tom T. Hall. The show had just had a major overhaul and ended shortly afterward. He also portrayed "Auntie Nelda" in numerous commercials; dressed in drag and appearing to be a senior citizen, the commercials gave off the tone of "Auntie Nelda" as a motherly lady encouraging one to do what was right (in this case, buy whatever product was being promoted). This character, along with the "Ernest" character, ran for a few years in
Mississippi and
Louisiana in commercials for Leadco Aluminum Siding, before it became a regular in the Ernest films. Varney also appeared as Ernest in on-air promos for local TV stations in several markets, talking about their news and weather personalities. During the 1990s, Varney reprised his role as Ernest for
Blake's Lotaburger, a fast-food chain in
New Mexico. In these commercials, Ernest typically would be trying to get into Vern's house to see what food Vern was eating. After a lengthy description of whatever tasty morsel Vern had, Ernest would get locked out but would continue to shout from outside.
Ernest's popularity The character of Ernest became widely popular, and was the basis for a short-lived TV series, ''
Hey Vern, It's Ernest!'' (1988) and a series of films in the 1980s and 1990s.
Ernest Goes to Camp (1987) grossed $23.5 million at the U.S. box office, on a $3.5 million production budget, and stayed in the box-office top five for its first three weeks of release. Though Varney was nominated for the
Razzie Award for Worst New Star, only one year later, he earned the
Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series for ''Hey Vern, It's Ernest!
Subsequent theatrically released Ernest films include Ernest Saves Christmas (1988), Ernest Goes to Jail (1990), Ernest Scared Stupid (1991), and Ernest Rides Again (1993). After the financial failure of Ernest Rides Again
, all further films were released direct-to-video: Ernest Goes to School (1994) which had a limited theatrical run in Ohio and Kentucky, Slam Dunk Ernest (1995), Ernest Goes to Africa (1997), and Ernest in the Army'' (1998). The
Walt Disney World Resort's
Epcot theme park featured Ernest. Epcot's
Cranium Command attraction used the Ernest character in its preshow as an example of a "lovable, but not the brightest person on the planet" type of person. In addition to his
Ernest Goes to... series, he starred as Ernest in several smaller films for
John R. Cherry III, such as ''
Knowhutimean? Hey Vern, It's My Family Album; Dr. Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom Beam; and the direct-to-video feature Your World as I See It'', all of which showcased him in a wide variety of characters and accents.
Other roles From 1983 to 1984, Varney played heartthrob
Chad Everett's younger brother Evan Earp in the comedy-drama, high-action television series
The Rousters, created by
Stephen J. Cannell, about the descendants of
Wyatt Earp, a family of bounty hunters/carnival bouncers. As Evan Earp, Varney played a con man/mechanical-inventor "genius," constantly getting himself into comedic trouble, with those around him ready to lynch him. Although the series was promising, the show failed after its first season because it was poorly slotted (four episodes every few months) against the number-one prime-time television series for the previous six years,
The Love Boat. Varney can be seen in
Hank Williams Jr.'s video for "
All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight", in which he is briefly shown casually riding a bull being pulled on a rope by a young lady, and later in a swimming pool with two young ladies. In 1985, Varney co-hosted
HBO's
New Year's Eve special, along with
Johnny Cash and
Kris Kristofferson. Varney also starred as Jed Clampett in the 1993 production of
The Beverly Hillbillies; played Rex, a carnival worker/associate of
Dennis Quaid in
Wilder Napalm; and played the accident-prone entertainer/watch guard ("safety guy/human torch") Rudy James in the film
Snowboard Academy. He later played a small role in the 1995 action film
The Expert as a weapons dealer named Snake. Varney also voiced
Slinky Dog in the first two films of the
Toy Story franchise, with his friend
Blake Clark replacing him following his death. Varney played numerous other characters, including "Cookie" Farnsworth, from
Atlantis: The Lost Empire, released the year after his death (
Steven Barr replaced Varney for the sequel ''
Atlantis: Milo's Return), the carny character Cooder in the "Bart Carny" episode of The Simpsons, the character Walt Evergreen in the Duckman'' episode "You've Come a Wrong Way, Baby", Prince Carlos Charmaine (a royal suitor Jackie dates) for a few episodes of the final season of the 1990s television series
Roseanne, and Lothar Zogg in the 1998 film
3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain, also starring
Hulk Hogan and
Loni Anderson. Varney had a brief role as an incestuous, abusive father in an independent film,
100 Proof, for which he received good reviews from critics. He also played a rebel in the
midnight movie Existo, as well as an old mariner in a low-budget horror film,
Blood, Friends, and Money. During the filming of
Treehouse Hostage, he played an escaped convict held hostage and tormented by some fifth graders in a treehouse. One of Varney's final films was
Billy Bob Thornton's
Daddy and Them, in which he played Uncle Hazel, who had been arrested for murder. Co-stars included
Kelly Preston and
Andy Griffith. Another final guest appearance was the
Bibleman Genesis series
Bibleman Jr. Volume 1 & 2 as himself. Varney starred in three videos,
The Misadventures of Bubba,
The Misadventures of Bubba II, and
Bubba Goes Hunting, in which he played himself and taught young kids important safety rules about hunting and guns. He illustrated the rules with the help of his bumbling and accident-prone cousin Bubba (also played by Varney) and Bubba's nephew, Billy Bob. The videos were distributed as part of a membership pack from Buckmasters' Young Bucks Club. According to an interview, one of his final projects was writing a screenplay about the legendary
Hatfield–McCoy feud, stating that his grandfather hunted squirrel with the Hatfields. Varney also allegedly had been hoping to acquire more serious acting roles before his death, wanting to step outside the typecast of Ernest. ==Personal life==