Posted on Mon, May. 05, 2008

'Hee Haw' twin Jim Hager dies at 66

ASSOCIATED PRESS

NASHVILLE --

Jim Hager, one of the Hager Twins who satirized country life with cornball one-liners on TV's Hee Haw, died in Nashville, the show's producer said Friday. He was 66.

Hager was at a coffee shop when he collapsed Thursday, Sam Lovullo said. He said he had been told that by Jon Hager, the surviving twin. Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he had been taken, gave no details on the cause of death.

The twins, who were also guitarists and drummers, rose to national fame as original cast members of the TV show in 1969. With its mixture of music and country-flavored humor, the show was a huge hit.

The fast-paced use of one-liners was inspired by the hugely successful Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In -- but with a rural twist.

"People laughed at themselves," Jim Hager said in a 1988 Associated Press interview. "They liked the chemistry on the show and the fast pace."