David "Stringbean" Akeman
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David Akeman (June 17, 1915 – November 10, 1973) was an American country music banjo player and comedy musician best known for his role on the hit television show, Hee Haw.
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[edit] Early Life and Career
Born in Annville, Jackson County, Kentucky, he came from a musical family and was taught to play banjo by his father. He acquired the nickname"Stringbean" because of his tall, thin build, and was eventually known by that single moniker.
Akeman adopted a stage costume that comically accentuated his height, consisting of a shirt with an exceptionally long waist and tail, tucked into a pair of short child-sized blue jeans (from Little Jimmy Dickens) belted around his knees (see black-and-white photo on album cover at right). The costume helped contribute to the illusion of Akeman towering over his fellow performers.
During the 1940s, Akeman was a bluegrass banjo player with the band of country singer Bill Monroe. In 1945, he teamed up with Lew Childre to form a comedy duet, and the two were successful enough to be invited to perform on the Grand Ole Opry. Primarily a backup musician or part of the comedy duet, he never recorded any music until the 1960s.
In 1969, Akeman became a founding member of the cast of the television show "Hee Haw." One of his regular routines was to read a "letter from Home" to his friends (similar in style to American comedian "Charley Weaver"). When asked about the latest letter, "Stringbean" would reach for it, stating that he carried it right next to "his Heart" (his upper overalls pocket). Not finding it there, he would proceed to quickly check all his other pockets, saying "Heart" on each check until he found the letter, usually in his hip pocket.
[edit] Murder
A modest and unassuming person, Akeman enjoyed the simple life of hunting and fishing. Accustomed to hard times during the Great Depression of the 1930s, Akeman and his wife, Estelle, lived frugally in a tiny cabin near Ridgetop, Tennessee -- their only indulgence a Cadillac automobile. Depression-era bank failures also inspired Akeman and many others not to trust banks with their money. It was general gossip around Nashville that Akeman usually kept significant amounts of cash on hand, despite not being terribly wealthy by entertainment industry standards.
On a Saturday night in November 1973, the Akemans were shot dead upon returning to their home about 20 miles from downtown Nashville. Thieves had lain in wait for hours. The Akeman's bodies were discovered the following morning by neighbor and fellow performer, Grandpa Jones (Louis Marshall Jones).
A police investigation into the double homicide resulted in the conviction of cousins John A. Brown and Marvin Douglas Brown, both of whom were 23 years old at the time of the murders. At trial, it was revealed that the two had ransacked the cabin and then killed "Stringbean." Estelle shrieked when she saw "Stringbean" hit with the bullets. A few moments later, she was gunned down as well. The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals described the scene, "Upon their return, Mr. Akeman spotted the intruders in his home and evidently offered some resistance. One of the Brown cousins fatally shot Mr. Akeman, then pursued, shot and killed Mrs. Akeman. At their trial, each defendant blamed the other for the homicides." Brown v. State, (unpublished decision at 1991 WL 242928).
The thieves left with nothing more than a chain saw and some guns. In 1996, twenty-three years after their murders, $20,000 in cash was discovered behind a brick in the chimney of the Akemans' home. The paper money had rotted to such an extent that it was not usable. (To place this amount in context, the United States Consumer Price Index (CPI) indicates that the purchasing power of $20,000 in 1973 would be equivalent to the purchasing power of some $91,000 in 2006.) The A&E cable television network profiled the Stringbean murder case on a 2003 episode of its popular City Confidential series.
Marvin Douglas Brown fought his convictions in the Tennessee appellate courts. On September 28, 1982, the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the trial judge's order denying a new trial. State v. Brown, 644 S.W.2d 418 (Tenn.Crim.App. 1992). On November 21, 1991, the same court denied his motion for post conviction relief. State v. Brown, unpublished decision available at 1991 WL 24298. Marvin Brown ultimately granted an exclusive interview to Larry Brinton of the Nashville Banner. In the interview, he admitted his participation in the burglary and murders, but contended that John Brown fired the fatal shots.
Marvin Brown died of natural causes on January 8, 2003, at the Brushy Mountain Prison, in Petros, Tennessee. He is buried in the prison cemetery. John A. Brown remains incarcerated in a Tennessee Special Needs Facility, and he is scheduled for a parole hearing in July of 2008.
David and Estelle Akeman are buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens in Goodlettsville, Tennessee.
