Who is Jimmy Dean?

Jimmy Dean, who died in 2010, was an American country music singer, television personality and actor. He achieved a great deal of fame as the founder of the Jimmy Dean sausage brand.

Born in Texas in 1928, Dean released his first country music hit in 1943. He began hosting a radio show in Washington, D.C., the next year and signed with Columbia Records in 1947. Dean would go on to host his own television show, The Jimmy Dean Show, starting in 1963. His best-known song was 1961's "Big Bad John." He founded his eponymous sausage company in 1969, serving in both a management capacity and as its spokesman. He sold the company to Sara Lee in 1984, but stayed on as spokesman for many years.