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Roni Stoneman, ‘First Lady of the Banjo’ and ‘Hee Haw’ Cast Member, Dies at 85
Roni Stoneman, a country musician who was known as 'first lady of the banjo,' and a familiar presence on TV's 'Hee Haw' for many years, has died.
Roni Stoneman, a country musician who was known as “first lady of the banjo,” and was seen by millions as a familiar face on television’s “ Hee Haw,” has died. On “Hee Haw,” Stoneman played “the Ironing Board Lady,” Ida Lee Nagger, who would appear during one of the series’ signature blackout bits, the song “Pfft You Were Gone!” The published described her as “the youngest daughter of the pioneering country music family and a woman who overcame poverty and abusive husbands” to become a master musician and “a comedienne beloved by millions.” In it she wrote about “her ‘pooristic’ (‘way beyond ‘poverty-stricken’) Appalachian childhood, and how her brother Scott taught her to play the challenging and innovative three-finger banjo picking style developed by Earl Scruggs.” The memoir also included “her encounters as a musician with country greats like Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, June Carter, and Patsy Cline; as well as her personal struggles with shiftless and violent husbands” and “her musical life after ‘Hee Haw.
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