Bill Byrge, who played Bobby in the beloved Ernest franchise, has died at the age of 92 in his hometown of Nashville, Tennessee.
His cousin Sharon Chapman heartbrokenly announced the news on her Facebook page this Thursday. She did not specify a cause of death.
‘My cousin, Bill Byrge, passed away in the Nashville area today at 12pm. He was a beautiful soul who made people laugh without even trying,’ she wrote.
‘He was the “Bobby” character in several Ernest movies with Jim Varney. I always teased him of being a “star” in our family,’ she touchingly recalled.
‘He deserved it as raised poor, but his momma taught him love, respect, and faith which he showed to everyone,’ Chapman continued. ‘Heaven gained a sweet soul today. Love you, Billy. See you soon!’
Byrge featured on the beloved 1980s children’s TV show Hey Vern, It’s Ernest!, as well as several movies like Ernest Goes To Jail and Ernest Saves Christmas.
Chapman revealed that Byrge died at his own home in Tennessee, which is located in his home state, where he grew up during the Great Depression.
Born in 1932, Byrge had a financially strapped upbringing as the United States grappled with the worst economic crisis in its history.
He worked for years at the Metro Nashville Public Library before being discovered walking down the sidewalk and beginning his movie career.
Byrge’s first film was the first Ernest movie 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 kindly but daffy Southern handyman who constantly launches into long speeches to the consternation of his silent and long-suffering neighbor Vern.
Ernest became a staple of television ads in the mid-1980s, when his monologues with Vern were used to advertise various products.
During that same period, after appearing in Dr. Otto And The Riddle Of The Gloom Beam, Byrge also started featuring in advertisements.
He and Gailard Sartain respectively played Bobby and Chuck, twin brothers who bear no physical resemblance to one another and have opposite personalities.
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 featured as the taciturn Bobby in a string of further Ernest movies, 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.
