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Ernest P. Worrell
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Ernest P. Worrell is a fictional character portrayed by American actor Jim Varney in a series of television commercials, and later in a television series (Hey Vern, It's Ernest!) as well as a series of feature films. Ernest was created by the Nashville advertising agency Carden and Cherry and was used in various local television ad campaigns. The only national products he promoted were The Coca-Cola Company's sodas, Chex, and Taco John's. The first Ernest commercial, filmed in 1980, advertised an appearance by the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders at Beech Bend Park, an amusement park near Bowling Green, Kentucky. The format of the commercials seldom varied. The rubber-faced Ernest, almost always dressed in a denim vest and baseball cap, appeared at the door of an unseen and unheard but seemingly unwilling neighbor named Vern. The spots were structured in a way to allow the viewer to be "Vern", as Varney looked directly in the camera whenever Vern was addressed. Ernest's seemingly pointless conversations with Vern – which were actually a monologue due to Vern never responding – inevitably rambled around to a favorable description of the sponsor's product, followed by his signature close, "KnowhutImean?" While Vern is never shown to ever say anything, it is implied that he finds Ernest to be an unwelcome pest due to him trying to slam his door in Ernest's face on a few occasions. Vern also shakes his head "No" whenever Ernest invites him to do something. Ernest, despite having good intentions, is utterly oblivious to Vern's apparent distress regarding him and always regards Vern as his closest buddy and confidant.Played by the actor
Filmography of Ernest P. Worrell (11 films)
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Ernest in the Army (1998)
, 1h25Directed by John R. Cherry III
Origin USA
Genres Comedy
Actors Jim Varney, John R. Cherry III, Daniel Kash
Rating44%
Ernest (Jim Varney) is working as a golf ball collector at a golf range in Valdosta, Georgia, but fantasizes about being a war hero. A friend tells him that if he joins the Army, he will get to drive large vehicles and never have to go into actual combat. He enlists, but is deployed to the fictional Middle Eastern country of Karifistan, where his unit has to save the country from being invaded by an evil Islamic dictator named Tufuti of Aziria. Once he began, Ernest and his team investigates a dictator who was responsible for the wars in the nearby village. Suddenly, he finds a lost boy and has to keep him safe until his father is found.
Ernest Goes to Africa (1997)
, 1h30Directed by John R. Cherry III
Origin USA
Genres Comedy
Themes Films set in Africa
Actors Jim Varney, Linda Kash, Jamie Bartlett, Frank Opperman, Eric the Actor
Rating46%
Ernest P. Worrell (Varney) has been fired from his job due to accidentally crushing a lady's car. He goes to a local restaurant and asks his crush, Rene Loomis (Kash) to go on a date with him. He is turned down by her because she wants to date somebody more adventurous. Ernest decided to buy her a gift to show that he really cares for her. He goes to a flea market where he buys two jewels, unaware that they are the "Eyes of Igoli" stolen from the Sinkatutu tribe in Africa by a runaway man named Mr. Rabhas who is being chased by two henchmen of Prince Kazim. He is cornered by the men but rescued by a man named Thompson (Bartlett) and his strong African bodyguard, Bazu.
Slam Dunk Ernest (1995)
, 1h33Directed by John R. Cherry III
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Romance
Themes Sports films, Basketball films
Actors Jim Varney, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Stevie Vallance, Cylk Cozart, Miguel A. Nunez, Jr., Jay Brazeau
Rating46%
Ernest (Jim Varney) takes a job with a cleaning service at the local mall, and he soon seeks to join his co-workers' basketball team, "Clean Sweep", as they compete in the city league tournament. He is reluctantly accepted by the team, but given only a minor role as their cheerleader and mascot. In his despair, he is visited by an angel (played by basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), and given a pair of magical shoes, but is warned, "Don't misuse the shoes." As a matter of fact, the shoe store's owner, Zamiel Moloch happens to be a demon in disguise. He would eventually prevent Ernest's sportsmanship with the basketball players by luring Ernest to arrogance.
Ernest Goes to School (1994)
, 1h29Origin Canada
Genres Drama, Comedy
Themes Films about education
Actors Jim Varney, Linda Kash, Bill Byrge, Sarah Chalke, Laurence Olivier, Gabe Khouth
Rating45%
Ernest (Jim Varney) works as a janitor at Chickasaw Falls High School, which is facing closure due to the School Board's decision to merge other schools in the area. There is also a new rule: All employees are required to have graduated. Ernest never did.
Ernest Rides Again (1993)
, 1h36Directed by John R. Cherry III
Origin USA
Genres Comedy
Actors Jim Varney, Ron James, Tom Butler, Linda Kash, Frank C. Turner, Dave Ward
Rating47%
That lovable know-it-all knucklehead Ernest P. Worrell, (Jim Varney) who is working as a janitor at a local college, meets a history professor named Dr. Abner Melon (Ron James). After discovering an antique metal plate near a construction site, Ernest shows it to Dr. Melon who believes that it came from a giant Revolutionary War cannon called "Goliath", (named after the legendary biblical giant). Dr. Melon had previously been ridiculed by his peers for theorizing that the real Crown Jewels of England were stolen during the Revolutionary War and were actually hidden inside the long-lost cannon.
Ernest Scared Stupid (1991)
, 1h31Directed by John R. Cherry III
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Horror comedy, Fantasy, Horror
Themes Comedy horror films, Children's films
Actors Jim Varney, Shay Astar, Eartha Kitt, Bill Byrge, Ernie Fosselius
Rating57%
Trantor - a demonic troll who turns children into wooden dolls to feast upon their energy - is captured by the 19th century townsfolk of Briarville and sealed under a giant oak tree. One of the village elders, an ancestor of Ernest, establishes the seal under the condition that Trantor can only be released on the night before Halloween and by the hands of a Worrell. And that every generation of Worrells would get "dumber and dumber and dumber" culminating in Ernest P. Worrell.
Ernest Goes to Jail (1990)
, 1h21Directed by John R. Cherry III
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Crime
Themes Prison films, Films about capital punishment, Children's films
Actors Jim Varney, Gailard Sartain, Barbara Tyson, Bill Byrge, Charles Napier, Chambers Stevens
Rating53%
Security guards Chuck (Gailard Sartain) and Bobby (Bill Byrge) play a game of Red light/Green light while being night watchmen for Howard County Bank and Trust and are obsessed with elaborate schemes of would-be thieves. They hear a sound coming from a floor polisher that Ernest is trying to turn on for operation - he works as a night custodian at the bank - and dreams that he would be a clerk. He becomes magnetic from a mishap with the floor polisher and makes a disastrous mess. The next day, bank president Oscar Pendlesmythe's assistant, Charlotte Sparrow (Barbara Tyson) insists that he clean up his mess. Pendlesmythe wants to terminate Ernest's employment, but Charlotte has a soft heart for misfits and stray dogs, so she argues on his behalf. Ernest takes a bath at home in a tumble dry washing machine and uses a blow dryer with a windtunnel force for his evening dinner with Charlotte in a restaurant. He later receives a jury duty summons and excitedly tells the two watchmen about it. During the trial Dracup Maximum Security Prison convict Rubin Bartlett notices that death row inmate Felix Nash is a dead ringer for Ernest. Rubin's lawyer convinces the jury to tour the prison, where Ernest is abducted by Nash and another inmate named Lyle and forced to switch places with Nash. Even though he tries to tell the guards he is not Nash, they refuse to believe him. Ernest also does not know that he has a death sentence which is for Nash.
Ernest Saves Christmas (1988)
, 1h35Directed by John R. Cherry III
Origin USA
Genres Comedy
Themes Christmas films, Buddy films, Children's films, Santa Claus in film
Actors Jim Varney, Douglas Seale, Oliver Clark, Gailard Sartain, Bill Byrge, Billie Bird
Rating56%
A man who claims to be Santa Claus (Douglas Seale) arrives at the Orlando International Airport in Florida. Ernest P. Worrell (Jim Varney) is working as a taxi driver. He takes a passenger to the airport, but speeds and the passenger falls out of the taxi. Ernest later picks up Santa Claus, who tells Ernest that he is on his way to inform a local celebrity named Joe Carruthers (Oliver Clark) that he has been chosen to be the new Santa Claus. Carruthers hosts a children's program named Uncle Joey's Treehouse in the Orlando area similar to Mister Rogers' Neighborhood with emphasis on manners and integrity with the catchphrase "They never get old. They always stay new. Those three little words, Please and Thank You.
Ernest Goes to Camp (1987)
, 1h32Directed by John R. Cherry III
Origin USA
Genres Comedy
Themes Transport films, Road movies, Children's films
Actors Jim Varney, John Vernon, Iron Eyes Cody, Gailard Sartain, Scott Menville, Jacob Vargas
Rating54%
A pow wow opening features a medicine man tossing a knife and tomahawk at a young brave warrior to test his faith in the Great One and true courage. He also shoots an arrow at him to test his purity of heart. Jim Varney reprises his role of Ernest P. Worrell, working as a maintenance man at Kamp Kikakee and hoping to become a counselor. With his typical enthusiasm, he pours himself into the role and quickly becomes a valuable addition to the staff, in particular for his passion at learning the specialized sign language used by Kikakee's owner, Chief St. Cloud (Iron Eyes Cody), who does not speak English.
, 1h32Directed by John R. Cherry III
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Comedy, Adventure, Comic science fiction
Themes Comedy science fiction films, Children's films
Actors Jim Varney, Bill Byrge
Rating49%
Dr. Otto is a mysterious villain with a hand growing on top of his head. He is plotting world domination using his gloom beam, which can delete matter or memory and has the power to destroy the world. The bumbling hero Lance Sterling is the only one who can stop him, but his only clue is a riddle which reads: "When the money is scrambled to the very last cent, riots and hatred soon will commence. When all the world's commerce will be put in a bind, from the evil that lurks where the sun never shines. It is I, Dr. Otto von Schnick -ick-ick-ick, who has played on you this trick-ick-ick-ick." "But who's Dr. Otto?" you may well ponder, while all your magnetic cash is squandered. It's he who had an eye, and yet couldn't see. It's he who served bouillabaisse, when he was a she. It's he who gambled with brains, and a gun. It's he who had all, and yet had none. And to stop this horrible twisted trick, just exchange the poles of old Saint Nick. And if that doesn't do to save the day, put another quarter in and try another play.
, 57minutesDirected by John R. Cherry III
Origin USA
Actors Jim Varney
Rating75%
Ernest finds his old family album in the attic and discusses his family members from the album to his neighbor, Vern.