Henry D. Haynes

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Henry Doyle Haynes (born near Knoxville, Tennessee on July 29, 1920–died in Hammond, Indiana on August 7, 1971) was an American entertainer who gained fame on radio and television as half of the Homer and Jethro country music comedy team. The partnership began in 1932. Henry (stage name "Homer") strummed the guitar and Kenneth "Jethro" Burns played the mandolin. The duo were occasional performers on Knoxville radio before they became regulars on the “Renfro Valley Barn Dance” radio program in 1939. During World War II, the duo split, but they reunited in 1945. Homer and Jethro later appeared on television shows, including “The Beverly Hillbillies”, “The Johnny Cash Show” and “The Tonight Show”. The pair recorded more than 50 albums over their career. They won a Grammy award for the best comedy performance in 1959 for “The Battle of Kookamonga”, a parody of Johnny Horton's "Battle of New Orleans". Homer once owned the Fender Stratocaster that had the serial number 0001.

[edit] References

• Homer and Jethro biography

{{comedy-stub} A slight correction to Homer and Jethro's television appearances is that they did not appear on the Beverly Hillbillies show. Flatt and Scruggs made frequent appearances on that show. Homer and Jethro did commercials for Kelloggs Corn Flakes which aired on the Beverly Hillbillies commercial spots.