"Big Bad John" Singer Jimmy Dean Dies At 81

Above, Jimmy Dean as billionaire Willard Whyte in "Diamonds Are Forever."

Singer and actor Jimmy Dean died yesterday at age 81, the Associated Press reported:

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Jimmy Dean, a country music legend for his smash hit about a workingman hero, "Big Bad John," and an entrepreneur known for his sausage brand, died on Sunday. He was 81.

His wife, Donna Meade Dean, said her husband died at their Henrico County, Va., home.

She told The Associated Press that he had some health problems but was still functioning well, so his death came as a shock. She said he was eating in front of the television. She left the room for a time and came back and he was unresponsive. She said he was pronounced dead at 7:54 p.m.

Dean played the Howard Hughesesque billionaire Willard Whyte in the 1971 James Bond movie, Diamonds Are Forever starring Sean Connery and Jill St. John. One of his lines from that movie that seems to pop up on occasion between my friends and me was, "BAJA!? I don't have anything in Baja!" The movie's primary location was in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Reportedly, Dean and Connery became friends during the making of the film and remained friends until Dean's passing.

To read the Associated Press's full article, go here.