NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — It's an honor that puts you in a league with legends. And on Friday night, the Grand Ole Opry inducts its 230th cast member.
"The reason, honest to God, I'm still doing this is I made sure I didn't have anything to fall back on," smiled comedian and musician Gary Mule Deer, sitting backstage at the Opry.
How do you even begin to sum up 60 years of entertainment from Gary? Well, you can't, but you can pick a few bright spots. He was on Johnny Carson. He was a judge on The Gong Show. He opened for acts including Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, and Frank Sinatra. His Nashville career included being a cast member on Hee Haw and more than 160 appearances on the Grand Ole Opry.
Gary's advice to fellow comedians is simple.
"All I ever say is 'don't say anything unless it's funny,'" he said.
Years ago, Gary decided comedy clubs weren't right for his style. The Opry, though, brings his crowd.
"I always liked to work for families," he said. "I like to hear people say, 'we never saw mom and dad laugh like that.'"
"All these photographs are arranged in a smile, which is not by accident," said vice president and executive producer of the Opry Dan Rogers. He spoke while walking through the comedy dressing room. Pictures of legendary Opry comedians hung on the wall.
"There's something really special about Grandpa Jones and Minnie Pearl," Dan continued. "Laughter is universal. When you send someone out on that stage that makes everyone laugh, it's a home run every time."
Yet, the Opry went for 50 years without inducting another comedian as a cast member. For all that time, the last one was Jerry Clower in 1973. That wait is over. Last month, we talked to comedian Henry Cho about becoming Opry member 229.
"We're the torchbearers," he told us.
Now, Gary becomes member 230.
"He's 83, yeah," said Dan.
"I'm one year older than Buggs Bunny and two years younger than Porky Pig," Gary smiled.
In a 60-year career, Nashville has brought Gary some incredible moments including meeting Sarah Cannon, best known to the world by her stage name, Minnie Pearl.
"She was bedridden at that time," Gary remembered. "She'd seen me on TNN. I remember she said, 'sit on the bed.' I sat on the bed beside her. She held my hand. She said she loved how I did my comedy. I'm overwhelmed just thinking about it. My God, what an icon."
This induction is another of those incredible moments.
"When it hit me, it really hit me," he said. "It's gonna be the pinnacle of my career, of all the things I've done, and I've done a lot of things. This is really a family. It's a family. I can just about name everybody here. It's not a retiring kind of thing, but it's such an honor."
"He does, indeed, make people laugh," Dan said. "I'm talking out in the audience, in the hallways, on the side of the stage. That combination made everybody say, 'you know who'd be a good Opry member? Gary Mule Deer.'"
