Jimmy Dean

Jimmy Dean was a country singer who hosted his own variety show, The Jimmy Dean Show, from 1963-1966. Rowlf the Dog was a regular on that show. In addition to The Jimmy Dean Show, Rowlf made a few live appearances with Jimmy Dean, and also got to perform with Jimmy Dean in an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Jimmy Dean wrote an autobiography in 2004 (this contributor forgets the title... could somebody help?), and talked a bit about Rowlf. He said that during the time of his show, his manager told him that he thought he could get Jimmy Dean 40 percent ownership of the muppets, but Dean turned it down, saying that he didn't think he did anything to earn any kind of ownership of the Muppets.