Jimmy Dean: Star and Sausage Man

  • DR. MIKE WOLF
    DR. MIKE WOLF
  • Jimmy singing with his stepmother, Ruth Taylor Dean. Photos Courtesy of the Jimmy Dean Museum
    Jimmy singing with his stepmother, Ruth Taylor Dean. Photos Courtesy of the Jimmy Dean Museum
  • Dean with actor Sean Connery in “Diamonds Are Forever” in 1971.
    Dean with actor Sean Connery in “Diamonds Are Forever” in 1971.
  • Jimmy Dean, the sausage huckster.
    Jimmy Dean, the sausage huckster.
  • The seven-foot Jimmy Dean bronze.
    The seven-foot Jimmy Dean bronze.

    The Texas Panhandle and South Plains areas have had their fair share of singers.Buddy Holly, Mac Davis (Lubbock); Roy Orbison (Wink); Waylon Jennings (Levelland); Roger Miller (Erick); Terry Stafford (Hollis, Okla.); Gene Price, Bill Mack (Shamrock); Joe Barnhill and Bob Wills (Turkey) come to mind.But Jimmy Dean took entertainment and business to the apex of success. Jimmy Ray Dean was born Aug. …