Born 114 Years Ago Today in Tennessee, the “Queen of Country Comedy” Who Wore a $1.98 Price Tag and Became a Grand Ole Opry Icon
Sarah Ophelia Colley, known to audiences as Minnie Pearl, was born in Tennessee on 25 October 1912. For more than 50 years, her comic character made her a Grand Ole Opry fixture, gently parodying rural Southern life and becoming one of country music’s best-known performers.
Colley developed Minnie Pearl while working as a travelling theatre director, drawing on people she encountered in North Alabama. She debuted at the Opry on 30 November 1940 and became known for her flowered hat, still bearing its $1.98 price tag, and greeting, “How-dee!” She appeared on radio and television, including Hee Haw, recorded six albums and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1975; she retired after a stroke in 1991 and died in 1996, aged 83.
In short
- Sarah Colley created the beloved Minnie Pearl character.
- She was an Opry regular for more than 50 years.
- Her hat kept its original $1.98 price tag.
Explained simply
Sarah Ophelia Colley was a Tennessee-born performer who created the comic character Minnie Pearl while directing travelling theatre. The character drew on people Colley had met in North Alabama and played with familiar ideas about rural Southern life.
Minnie Pearl became a regular on the Grand Ole Opry, a long-running country music radio programme and stage show in Nashville. Her flowered hat, with its $1.98 price tag still attached, and her “How-dee!” greeting became part of the character.
Through radio and television, including the variety show Hee Haw, Pearl became widely known beyond the Opry. Her career connected comedy with country music, and she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1975.