Junior Samples
Actor
Junior Samples, born Alvin Samples Jr. was a comedian best known for his 14-year run as a cast member of the TV show Hee Haw.
A sixth grade dropout, Samples was a stock car racing driver and carpenter by trade who went on the radio at the age of 40 and told a story about catching the largest fish ever seen in his hometown. The story was a humorous tall tale, and the recording of this radio story became a best-selling novelty record.
Subject ID: 42687
MoreJunior Samples, born Alvin Samples Jr. was a comedian best known for his 14-year run as a cast member of the TV show Hee Haw.
A sixth grade dropout, Samples was a stock car racing driver and carpenter by trade who went on the radio at the age of 40 and told a story about catching the largest fish ever seen in his hometown. The story was a humorous tall tale, and the recording of this radio story became a best-selling novelty record.
He was asked to become part of the 1969 cast of Hee Haw, and created a bungling personality, often slurring his way through delivery, messing up jokes and forgetting lines.
Samples' most famous bit was as a used car salesman, inviting callers to call an older five-digit phone number, BR-549 (in the show's later years, the number was changed to BR-1Z1Z). When Hee Haw episodes were later sold to the public through a TV ad, the initial 800 number was a takeoff of Samples' comedy bit. In 1993 BR5-49 was also taken as a name by an American country music band.
Subject ID: 42687
Subject ID: 42687
