August 10, 1926 - November 13, 1983

Portly Junior Samples won fame overnight when he appeared on the first “Hee Haw” show.  His slow and deliberate telling of tall-tales about his experiences in the Georgia piney woods soon became one of the most popular segments of the program.

 

Junior hailed from the hill country around Cumming, Georgia, and even admitted to having seen a little moonshine whiskey made during his younger days.  He was a farmer, a sawmill hand and a carpenter before making his television debut in “Hee Haw.”

 

Despite his success, Junior hasn’t changed.  Until the time of his death, he still wore his bib overalls wherever he went, was still married to the same charming lady and still had the same honest and innocent outlook on life.  Of course, he did own a Lincoln Continental, but he used it to pull his bass boat.