Was that a real truck, or a prop, that Junior Samples always kicked on Hee Haw? What can you tell me about him?
—Malcolm M. Reeves, Mount Carmel, Ill.
Samples’ used-car lot gag (and its memorable tag line, “Call BR-549”) began in 1973 with a real vehicle, which was switched out over the years. Samples was born in Cumming, Ga., and a member of the Hee Haw cast from 1969 until 1983, when he died of a heart attack at the age of 57. He first gained fame for his 1966 novelty record, “World’s Biggest Whopper,” about catching a giant bass in Georgia’s Lake Lanier.
