NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — With the loss of a pop culture icon this week of Pee-wee Herman actor Paul Reubens, we are reminded about a grand friendship based right here in Nashville.
Contributor for Rolling Stone magazine Stephen L. Betts came by his country music expertise through the story of his mother. Kay Betts von Sneidern was a businesswoman to icons in her creation of thousands of hats for family friend Sarah Cannon. Cannon is best for her stage persona: Minnie Pearl.
"At any given time, there would probably be as many as 500 hats in the house getting ready to be decorated and have the price tag put on," Stephen smiled.
In 1992, Stephen's mother took a call to work on a tribute to Sarah to be taped at the Opry. The show was to be called "Hats Off To Minnie."
"They said, 'We have 100 celebrities, and we want all of them to have a hat,'" Stephen remembered.
Among them, Stephen's mother was making a Minnie hat for someone you might not expect at the Opry.
"I said, 'Oh my gosh, Pee-wee Herman, he's one of my favorites! He's great!'" Stephen said.
Famed photographer Alan Messer was at the Opry that night, capturing moments with the stars including Paul Reubens in character as Pee-wee.
"I, like many of us, was a huge Pee-wee Herman fan," Alan said. "I took a picture of him and, indeed, it's totally in character. I like to tell the story of the character. It's not a picture of Paul Reubens at home being Paul. It's Pee-wee Herman."
Paul developed his comedy in the Los Angeles Groundlings troupe. Sarah is a Centerville native who arrived at fame through her Grand Ole Opry performances. They took different paths, but when they met at a Comic Relief benefit in 1986, it was an immediate friendship based on mutual respect.
"She said, 'Oh, I just love him. He is so unique. He is really, really great,'" Stephen said, remembering a conversation he had with Sarah. "They created alter-egos."
Alter-egos that were household names. They both developed catchphrases and iconography. She had the hat with the price tag hanging down. He had a gray suit and a little red bow tie.
Musician Warren Montgomery remembers a day many years ago when longtime friend Paul invited him to grab a bite at a Nashville Shoney's. Paul didn't tell Warren who else was going to be there.
"I was just staring!" Warren laughed. "I was trying not to stare. She hugged me. I thought to myself, 'I'm hugging Minnie Pearl!'"
Warren spent the next three-and-a-half hours in a corner booth of Shoney's with the creative minds behind Minnie Pearl and Pee-wee Herman.
"Paul and Sarah were just sitting there so giddy," Warren remembered. "They were joking, and they were telling each other jokes and then they would laugh. It was incredible. That was one of the highlights of my life."
"I'm glad he was in the world, and I'm sorry he's gone from this world," Alan said.
Sarah died in 1996. Now, with Paul's death, there are so many who remember them both as funny people who brought joy.
"The two of them were doing something completely unique," Stephen said. "That warmth came from him, just as I'd always seen it from her."
"He was funny and caring, and she was very much the same," Warren said.
Paul's appearance on the Hats Off to Minnie special closed out with him delivering this message.
"I just want you to know, Minnie, I'd do anything for you. I wouldn't trade how much I love you for anything in the world."
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