Biography
Rodney Leon Brasfield entered the world on 22 August 1910 in Smithville, a settlement close to Tupelo, Mississippi, and left it on 12 September 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee. Departing home in 1926, he linked up with his brother Lawrence ‘Boob’ Brasfield, already employed by a traveling tent revue, where he handled minor roles and performed odd jobs for the cast. The siblings soon parted from that outfit to form a comedy duo inside the higher-profile Bisbee’s Comedians circuit; Rod initially fed lines to his brother until an unforeseen delay forced him onstage as the featured comic. The substitution proved decisive, locking him into humorous work exclusively. He remained with the company until World War II summoned him into the US Army Air Corps. A childhood back ailment brought a medical discharge in 1943, after which he promptly returned to Bisbee. An audition secured his Grand Ole Opry bow in July 1944. Four years later he assumed the slot vacated by Whitey Ford (Duke Of Paducah) on the NBC-networked Prince Albert Show; his rapid-fire exchanges and onstage chemistry with Minnie Pearl elevated both performers to Opry headliners. The pair joined Opry touring packages that carried them to Europe alongside Hank Williams, Marty Robbins and Little Jimmy Dickens. By 1955 Brasfield appeared regularly on television via the Ozark Jubilee and the show’s sponsored segments, with Red Foley supplying straight-man support. Director Elia Kazan cast him the following year in the dramatic feature A Face In The Crowd, where he shared scenes with Andy Griffiths and earned favorable notices. Although his stage persona never wavered from comedy, he contended privately with alcohol dependency. He avoided formal interviews whenever possible, and any remarks he did offer to the press stayed lighthearted. He sustained his partnership with Minnie Pearl and his Opry appearances until the end. A fatal heart attack struck inside his Nashville trailer in September 1958; he was pronounced dead upon reaching the hospital. Posthumous recognition arrived in 1987 with his induction into the Country Music Hall Of Fame.