When did Jimmy Dean die?

Dean died on June 13, 2010, at the age of 81, at his home in Varina, Virginia. He is survived by his second wife, Donna. He was in good health, she told the Associated Press, so his death came as a shock. She recalls him eating while watching television, leaving the room, and returning to find him unresponsive. At 7:54 p.m., he was pronounced dead. His estate was valued at more than $50 million.

On the grounds of his estate, he was entombed in a 9-foot-tall (2.7 m) piano-shaped mausoleum overlooking the James River. “Here Lies One Hell of a Man,” his gravestone reads, copied from the uncensored version of his song “Big Bad John.”

Jimmy Ray Dean was a country music performer, television host, actor, and businessman from the United States. He created the Jimmy Dean sausage brand and served as its ambassador in television advertising.

In 1957, he debuted on CBS as a national television personality. His 1961 country music crossover smash “Big Bad John” into rock and roll earned him stardom, as did his 1963 television series The Jimmy Dean Show, which gave puppeteer Jim Henson his first national media exposure.

He lived near Richmond, Virginia, and was nominated for the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2010, but died that year at the age of 81 before being inducted.