FRANKLIN, Tenn. (WTVF) — Among all the great icons born in Tennessee, this is a good one. She had a famous look, voice, and catchphrases. An event just held shows how much we all still love her.
"HOWDEEE! I'm just so proud to be here!" actress Jenny Littleton said with a booming voice and a smile.
She was dressed like iconic comedian Minnie Pearl.
Littleton was at Franklin Theatre. Co-authors Mary Ellen Pethel and Don Cusic were also at the theatre, signing copies of their book "Howdy! The Minnie Pearl Story." A crowd filtered in for a screening of the PBS documentary "Facing the Laughter: Minnie Pearl."
"She was undeniable," said documentary director Barbara Hall. "She is the founder of country comedy for women."
Everyone there was involved in keeping a story alive, a story that starts in Centerville, Tennessee.
Sarah Cannon was born there in 1912 and grew up with big dreams of heading to a city of lights.
"Y'know, Minnie had originally wanted to be a Broadway theater star," Hall continued. "She knew what it was like to connect with the people in the middle row, the back row, the front row."
Instead of Broadway, Cannon's life took her to create this character. She first played Cousin Minnie Pearl at the Grand Ole Opry in 1940. People started to want to hear these jokes and stories of hers just like they were hit songs.
"Female comedian was a little outside the norm," Hall said.
"It was sort of a man's world," Littleton added.
"Where she was able to hit was middle America," Hall said. "She talked about things that was part of their lives."
Cannon has a special title to Mary Beth Pruett.
"She was my great aunt!" she said.
Pruett's memory is of a woman, especially driven to help people.
"She was very generous," Pruett nodded. "I think she was just raised that way."
Part of that legacy is the Sarah Cannon Cancer Network, still a part of TriStar Centennial Medical Center.
"She sent me this when I was born," Pruett said, pulling out an envelope. "If things don't suit you, you just holler for your dixie grandma."
It's been 30 years since Sarah Cannon died. It's interesting to Pruett, still meeting people who connected in some way with her great aunt.
"I'm so proud and so honored that people still remember," she said.
If there's a truly great way of honoring Minnie Pearl, it's to go out and tell some stories.
"Mrs. Tugwell, the other day, said she was bathing one of those youngins," Littleton said, speaking to the crowd as Minnie Pearl. "The phone rung, and she went to go get it, come back, and that youngin was gone and that side door wide open. She hollered out, 'Are you out there running around that little tree stump without your panties on?' A voice came back and said, 'Uh, no, ma'am. I'm just reading my light meter.'"
"You want me to represent this incredible woman, I'm honored to do it," Littleton said, speaking from the heart. "One of the things Minnie had was pure joy. She was such a beloved individual."
Do you have a positive, good news story? You can email me at forrest.sanders@newschannel5.com.
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