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James Albert "Jim" Varney, Jr. was an American actor, voice actor, comedian, and writer. He was best known for his role as Ernest P. Worrell, who first appeared in a series of commercials popular in the United States, especially Nashville, Tennessee, and then later in a television show called Hey Vern, It's Ernest!. Disney took notice of the character's popularity and produced a feature film entitled Ernest Goes to Camp, starring Varney as Ernest. Varney's performing abilities led him to many roles both as an actor and voice artist.

For Disney, besides portraying Ernest P. Worrell in the Ernest film media franchise, he was also known for providing the original voice of Slinky Dog in Disney/Pixar's Toy Story franchise. Shortly before work began on Toy Story 2, Varney was diagnosed with lung cancer and died while he was recording lines for Cookie Farnsworth in Atlantis: The Lost Empire, which was released posthumously a year after his death. Since Toy Story 3, his friend Blake Clark took over as the voice of Slinky.

Varney was born in Lexington, Kentucky. As a child, he displayed the ability to memorize long poems and significant portions of the material from books, which he used to entertain family and friends. When Varney was a boy, his mother would turn on cartoons for him to watch. His mother discovered that Varney quickly began to imitate the cartoon characters, so she started him in children's theater when he was eight years old. Varney began his interest in theater as a teenager, winning state titles in drama competitions while a student at Lafayette High School (class of 1968) in Lexington.

Varney had an established acting career before his fame as Ernest. In 1976, Varney was a regular cast member of the television show Johnny Cash and Friends. He also played a recurring guest on the faux late-night talk show Fernwood 2 Night. From 1977 to 1979, Varney was cast as Seaman "Doom & Gloom" Broom in the television version of Operation Petticoat. Just prior to his stint as Ernest, he was a cast member on the notorious television flop Pink Lady and Jeff. In 1978, Varney played Milo Skinner in the CBS sitcom Alice.

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