Junior Samples, born Alvin Samples Jr. (April 10, 1926 – November 13, 1983) was an American comedian best known for his 14-year run as a cast member of the television show Hee Haw. Early years A sixth-grade dropout, Samples was a stock car racing driver and carpenter by trade who went on the radio at the age of 40 and told a story about catching the largest fish ever seen in his hometown. The story was a humorous tall tale, and the recording of this radio story became a best-selling novelty record, "World's Biggest Whopper". Hee Haw He was asked to become part of the 1969 cast of Hee Haw and created a bumbling personality, often stumbling or slow-talking his way through delivery, messing up jokes, and forgetting lines. One sketch of the show he appeared in regularly was "The Culhanes of Cornfield County" in which Junior, Gordie Tapp, Grandpa Jones and Lulu Roman would sit on a sofa and engage in a comedic deadpan routine: For example, in one episode each would talk about the new color TV set that had just been bought, but that they couldn't watch it, because they forgot they had no electricity in the house! His five children also appeared in episodes during the early years of the show, playing the children in the "Schoolhouse" sketches and themselves in quickies. BR-549 Samples' most famous bit was as a used car salesman, inviting callers to call an older five-digit phone number, BR-549, which in the show's later years was changed to BR-1Z1Z. In 1993, BR5-49 was also taken as a name by an American country music band as an homage to the skit. Politics In 1974, Samples announced that he was "seriously considering" running for lieutenant governor of Georgia on a Republican Party ticket with then-Macon mayor Ronnie Thompson, who was seeking the party's gubernatorial nomination. The media at first presented Samples' announcement as a political story. However, Samples was pulling a practical joke for publicity purposes. Thompson remained in the race and was defeated in the general election by the Democrat George D. Busbee. If the media had cared enough to investigate, it would have realized from the beginning that Samples' announcement was a spoof, because the Lieutenant Governor of Georgia is elected separately from the Governor. Personal life and death Samples was married to Grace Carrie Bolton (April 27, 1927 – July 9,