Dean's tale of a heroic miner nicknamed "Big Bad John" shot to Number One on both the country and pop charts, and (1)________________________and Western Recording. Dean followed with his own nationally televised variety show, which ran for 3 seasons. Soon, he was headlining at Carnegie Hall and the Hollywood Bowl. Dean has the distinction of being the first-ever guest host on "The Tonight Show" and he was the first country star to play in the Las Vegas tourist district known as "The Strip".
In 1969, Dean founded the Jimmy Dean Meat Company in his hometown of Plainview, Texas. Millions will always (2)________________________of his own television commercials for Jimmy Dean Pork Sausages.
When Dean sold his company in 1984, he continued to build on his acting career, that earlier included a supporting role in the 1971 motion picture, "Diamonds Are Forever", part of the James Bond action series. One of Dean's starring roles came in the 1990 film, "Big Bad John", based on his Grammy-winning single. Dean was elected into the Country Music Hall of Fame earlier this year, and (3)________________________.