Bill Byrge dead at 92: Star of Ernest movies passes away as cousin leads emotional tribute
Bill Byrge, who played Bobby in the beloved Ernest franchise, has passed away at the age of 92 in his hometown of Nashville, Tennessee.
His cousin Sharon Chapman broke the news on her Facebook page on Thursday. She did not provide a cause of death.
“My cousin, Bill Byrge, passed away today at noon in the Nashville area. He was a beautiful soul who made people laugh without even trying,” she wrote.
“He was the ‘Bobby’ character in several Ernest films with Jim Varney. “I always teased him that he was a ‘star’ in our family,” she recalled movingly.
“He deserved it because he was raised poor, but his mother taught him love, respect and faith, which he showed to everyone,” Chapman continued. ‘Heaven received a sweet soul today. I love you, Billy. See you soon!’
Byrge was featured on the beloved children’s television program Hey Vern, It’s Ernest! from the 80s, as well as in several films such as Ernest Goes To Jail and Ernest Saves Christmas.
Bill Byrge, who played Bobby in the beloved Ernest franchise, has died in his hometown of Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 92; depicted in Ernest Goes To Jail in 1990
His cousin Sharon Chapman heartbrokenly announced the news on her Facebook page on Thursday; Byrge is depicted in real life
Chapman revealed that Byrge died at his own home in Tennessee, his home state, while remembering her uncle TMZ.
Born in 1932, Byrge had a financially strapped upbringing as the United States suffered through the depths of the Great Depression.
He worked at the Metro Nashville Public Library for years before being discovered walking down the sidewalk and starting his showbiz career.
Byrge’s film debut was the first Ernest film Dr. Otto And The Riddle Of The Gloom Beam, a 1985 release in which he played a gas station attendant.
The classic character Ernest P. Worrell, played by Jim Varney, is a friendly but crazy Southern handyman who constantly gives long speeches, much to the dismay of his quiet and long-suffering neighbor Vern, who never appears on screen.
Ernest became a staple of television advertising in the mid-1980s, when his monologues for Vern were tailored to promote various products.
The character was used to plug Coca-Cola, the fast food chain Taco John’s and Chex cereal, and was also featured in several local commercials.
During the same period, Byrge, after working in Dr. Otto And The Riddle Of The Gloom Beam had appeared, also appearing in advertisements.
He and Gailard Sartain played Bobby and Chuck respectively, twin brothers who bear no physical resemblance to each other and have opposite personalities.
Bobby was depicted as a man of few words who only agrees with Chuck, who is the motormouth with a comment that is always at hand.
Chuck and Bobby were integrated into the Ernest franchise with the 1988 children’s morning breakfast show Hey Vern, It’s Ernest! , a sketch comedy program.
Byrge also played the silent Bobby in a series of other Ernest films, sometimes with Chuck and sometimes without him.
He appeared in Ernest Saves Christmas in 1988, Ernest Goes To Jail in 1990, Ernest Scared Stupid in 1991 and – finally – Ernest Goes To School in 1994.
Byrge left the entertainment industry after Varney died of lung cancer in 2000 at the age of 50, although he reprized the role of Bobby in a 2012 45-minute comedy film called Billy & Bobby The Whacky Duo On Vacation!
After retiring from show business, Byrge — a deeply religious man — resumed his previous career as a librarian in Nashville, Chapman said.