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Minnie Pearl and
MRS. Henry Cannon, Red Cross Gray Lady, wife of an airline official in Nashville, Tenn., sometimes shakes her head ruefully and declares she just can't get anywhere with neuropsychiatric vet' erans.
But as Minnie Pearl, star of the Grand Old Op'ry Company, she has to tell another story. For every Saturday night, over WSM in Nashville, with her talk about hog-killin' time at Grinder's Switch, she can start moody, unresponsive patients to talking without much effort. She's the very good reason large groups of hospital' ized veterans gather round their radios, tune in, and listen attentively as she drawls out her brand of hillbilly nonsense.
One and the same person, Mrs. Cannon and Minnie Pearl have gold-glinting hair and flashing white teeth, but according to the lady herself, the Grand Old Op'ry performer always gets across to the veterans,
no matter what their ailment, though Mrs. Cannon cannot seem to make a dent.
Recognized as queen of the mountaineer comediennes, Mrs. Cannon was first Miss Sarah Ophelia Colley before she became Minnie Pearl. She was born at Grinder's Switch, near the little Tennessee town of Centerville. When she attended Nashville's Ward-Belmont, she majored in dramatics and elocution. Telescoping four years work into two, she then returned to Centerville to teach in a local school.
Minnie Pearl's role was created in South Carolina in 1938 when Miss Colley was vacationing. Clad in an 89-cent organdy dress, lisle stockings, flat-heeled shoes, and a beflowered and fruited straw sailor chapeau, she performed for a benefit at the local hotel. At that significant moment, Minnie Pearl herself came into being.
Since last March, Mrs. Cannon has been a regular Gray Lady, visiting and working in the wards at Thayer Veterans Hospital every Wednesday. And when as Minnie Pearl she is on the road with the Grand Old Op'ry Company, she invariably finds time to report to a local Red Cross chapter as a visiting Gray Lady and volunteers for work in whatever veterans hospital that happens to be nearby.
Grand Olc Opry's "Minnie Pearl" steps out of character to become Mrs. Henry Cannon, Red Cross Gray Lady for the Nashville Davidson County Red Cross chapter. As a Gray Lady she spends time each Wednesday at Thayer Veterans Hospital at Nashville
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