Lexington native Jim Varney tickled the funny bones of millions through his career as an actor, comedian, musician, and commercial pitchman. He was most famous for his TV commercials where he played the annoying neighbor Ernest P. Worrell, constantly intruding on the never-seen neighbor “Vern.”

Here is a terrific reel of classic commercials and bloopers from those commercial shoots.

The commercial character launched Varney into a series of silly theater movies based on the premise of “Ernest Goes To…”

Jim Varney died in 2000 at age 50 but Ernest lives on.