Latest news with #HeeHaw
Wall Street Journal
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Wall Street Journal
Lulu Roman, ‘Hee Haw' Star and Gospel Singer, Dies at 78
Lulu Roman played at the Grand Ole Opry in 2012. Photo:'Hee Haw,' which premiered on CBS in 1969, was conceived as a kind of vaudeville revue for rural America: a parade of corny comedy sketches; buxom girls in pigtails, denim and gingham; and guest performances by country music A-listers—all hosted by the celebrated, cowboy-hat-wearing musicians Buck Owens and Roy Clark. It was spun up as a summer replacement, after the network abruptly fired the Smothers Brothers for refusing to tone down the antiwar, pro-civil-rights politics of their show. With President Richard Nixon taking the White House that January, 'Hee Haw' was a hasty play to entertain the silent majority.
New York Times
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Lulu Roman, Who Brought Big-Hearted Sass to ‘Hee Haw,' Is Dead at 78
Lulu Roman, who brought her big-hearted Texas sass and full-throated gospel vocals to the enduring variety show 'Hee Haw,' known for its corn-pone comedy sketches and musical interludes provided by a constellation of country stars, died on April 23 in Bellingham, Wash. She was 78. Her son and caretaker, Damon Roman, said she died of heart failure at his home, where she had been living. Ms. Roman's broad comedic skills and down-home persona proved a valuable asset to 'Hee Haw,' which debuted on CBS in 1969 as a folksy heartland answer to NBC's 'Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In,' a network take on contemporary mod culture known for its Day-Glo graphics and risqué one-liners delivered at Gatling-gun pace. It was originally a summer replacement for 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,' an even edgier variety show that had run afoul of censors for its pointed takes on race relations, drugs, religion and the Vietnam War. But 'Hee Haw' was the opposite of hip, and intentionally so. It was the television equivalent of a big country breakfast, heavy on the cheese grits. And it worked.
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Hee Haw' actor, singer dead at 78
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — An iconic comedian and gospel singer who performed at President Ronald Reagan's inauguration has died. reported Lulu Roman, best known for her different roles on 'Hee Haw,' died Wednesday, April 23 at 78. Over the years, Roman performed alongside some legendary artists, including Dolly Parton and George Jones, according to her obituary. 'Queen of Bluegrass' plans Middletown, Xenia concerts Spotify lists 'On The Battlefield,' 'That's The Man I'm Looking For,' 'The King of Who I Am,' 'The Old Church House' and more as songs she is known best for. 'Roman proved to be both an adept comedian and a talented singer, becoming a mainstay on the comedy variety show while also developing a career as a gospel singer,' said the obituary. To leave condolences for Roman, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Los Angeles Times
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Lulu Roman, ‘Hee Haw' comedian who became a gospel singer after trading drugs for God, dies at 78
Lulu Roman, the 'Hee Haw' comedian turned gospel singer, has died at 78 in Bellingham, Wash., her son Damon Roman confirmed to the Hollywood Reporter. The 'On the Battlefield' singer died Wednesday evening, according to a news release obtained by The Times. She called Mount Juliet, Tenn., her home for many years, but was living with her son in Washington state when she died. 'Lulu Roman has been a dear friend for over 40 years,' country and bluegrass singer Ricky Skaggs said Thursday on X (formerly Twitter). 'We loved her. Such a talented person. A great entertainer, a great singer and a wonderful Christian lady. We will miss her sweet smile and great hugs.' 'Sing with the angels now sweet friend!' singer Stella Parton tweeted. 'I loved her joyful attitude,' 'God Bless the U.S.A.' singer Lee Greenwood said in a statement. 'She always lifted everyone up and her voice will live on forever in the country music community. She was a legend in our industry and will be missed!' Roman explained in a 2024 interview that she was a 'screamin' crazy' comic performer in Dallas strip clubs when 'Hee Haw' was cast in 1969. She was born Bertha Louise Hable in Dallas in 1946 at a home for unwed mothers, given up for adoption and raised in an orphanage. Significantly overweight from comforting herself with food, she was never adopted, according to Florida Weekly, instead getting hooked on drugs when she was in high school. 'I think food became my drug probably the day that they put me in the orphan's home,' she told CBN when she was in her 60s. 'Sugar became my friend, because it didn't hurt me. And it didn't talk back to me, it didn't call me names. I think sugar became a comfort to me when I was very young.' A thyroid condition didn't help. 'I was the proverbial hippie,' she told Florida Weekly in 2020, working as a heavy-set comedic go-go dancer. Country and gospel music weren't on her radar. 'I was into the drug scene.' Buck Owens, a famous musician friend who in the late 1960s was about to be on 'Hee Haw,' dropped her name for consideration by the folks casting the show. 'They needed one boy next door, one fat dumb man, one fat dumb woman,' Roman said in her 2024 chat with Nashville station WTVF. 'Buck said, 'I got your girl! She's in Dallas!'' 'And they took his word,' she said after telling the same story on the 'Larry's Country Diner' podcast in 2021. Roman was cast on the show, which would go from a summer replacement series for 'The Smothers Brothers' to a hit running for 23 seasons. Roman appeared in 158 of the show's 352 episodes, including its first and last. She was missing from the corny comedy show from early 1971 to 1973 after getting arrested for drug possession and sentenced to time behind bars. 'What I was unconsciously trying to do was kill myself,' she told Florida Weekly, admitting she used weed, speed, LSD and methamphetamine. 'I tried many times, but it never worked out. I had no idea that God had any kind of a calling on my life.' According to the outlet, in 1973 she became a Christian and 'Hee Haw' brought her back to sing gospel music on the show. She eventually released more than a dozen albums and sang with Dolly Parton. She was inducted into the Country Gospel Music Hall of Fame in the late 1990s. After acting in the 1972 Robert Blake movie 'Corky,' Roman appeared in the 'Hee Haw' spin-off 'Hee Haw Honeys' in the late 1970s and two episodes of 'The Love Boat' in 1983. In 2001, she showed up on 'Touched by an Angel.' As the 2000s began, Roman could no longer ignore her health, she told CBN. 'I was about 380 some-odd pounds. I was in a scooter. I could not walk. My legs were in trouble. My back was in trouble,' she said. 'I came to the place that I was 60 some-odd years old, about 61, 62. I said, 'Father, I can't be an effective witness for you like this. I can't travel. I can't stand up. I can't breathe.' And so I knew that I had to make a change. I had to make a life change.' With lap-band surgery in 2005 and a focus on portion control, she dropped 200 pounds. The band was removed in 2009, but she finally managed to keep the weight off. 'I was terrified. I was,' she told CBN. 'But then I said, 'Father, I'm going to trust you that you're going to allow me to maintain this.'' On Thursday, the singer's former publicist Ben Laurro told People, 'Lulu Roman was unsung. She endured much adversity in her life that helped her become a joy to others.' Married twice, Roman is survived by her older son, Damon Roman, and in 2017 was predeceased by her younger son, Justin Collin Roman.
USA Today
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Lulu Roman, gospel singer and longtime 'Hee Haw' castmember, dead at 78
Lulu Roman, gospel singer and longtime 'Hee Haw' castmember, dead at 78 Lulu Roman, a gospel singer and longtime star of country music variety show "Hee Haw," has died, a close friend confirmed to USA TODAY on April 24. She was 78. Roman died April 23, in Bellingham, Washington, where she had moved last year to be closer to him. The cause of death was not shared. Getting her start as a scrappy comedian and Go-Go dancer in the Texas nightclub scene, Roman's fame grew exponentially when she became a regular on "Hee Haw" − the long-running comedy sketch show that offered country music stars guest spots to perform. From 1969 well into the 1990s, Roman delighted "Hee Haw" audiences with wry humor and later a knack for gospel vocals. A bout with drug addiction sidelined her from the show briefly in the 1970s, after which she discovered Christianity and went on to record a dozen albums, including duets with Dolly Parton and George Jones. Roman performed at the inauguration of President Ronald Reagan in 1980 and was inducted into the Country Gospel Music Hall of Fame in the late 1990s. "Lulu Roman was a dear friend of 40 years and she will always be remembered as one who made people laugh and smile. What better tribute is there?" country music singer T. Graham Brown said of her death in a release. "I talked to her a few days ago. We shared one last laugh and I told her that I loved her. I will really miss her. May God bless her soul." Equal parts singer and actress, Roman appeared on "Hee Haw Honeys," a spin-off of the original show, as well as the movie "Corky" and an episode of "The Love Boat." Born Bertha Louise Hable in 1946, she was placed in an orphanage at two and a half years old, where she would live until she graduated high school. Battling a thyroid issue and struggling with her weight throughout her life, Roman later discussed how growing up overweight led to bullying and how a dramatic slim-down in later years helped her to understand how sugar had been a coping mechanism during a tough childhood. Roman is survived by her eldest son, Damon. Her youngest son, Justin, died in 2017.
