Colonel Harland Sanders

Biography ^ | 4/24/25 | Biography

[DallasBiff]

Who Was Colonel Harland Sanders?

At the age of 40, Harland Sanders was running a popular Kentucky service station that also served food—so popular, in fact, that the governor of Kentucky designated him a Kentucky colonel. Eventually, Sanders focused on franchising his fried chicken business around the country, collecting a payment for each chicken sold. The company went on to become the world's largest fast-food chicken chain, Kentucky Fried Chicken. Sanders died in Louisville, Kentucky, on December 16, 1980.

[Bob434]

There was a story about him on TV showing how he got his start. In it they claimed he and some fellas confronted,a rival with guns, shooting at each other.

[RitchieAprile]

There we go.

[cpdiii]

The Colonel’s Kentucky Fried Chicken is the best. I have ate in even in Egypt. It tasted the same as back home. I have eaten a Big Mack in London. It tasted exactly the same as in my USA, it was crap.

[MikelTackNailer]

Colonal Sanders is probably the biggest icon of all fast food, whose likeness has spanned all visual media even 45 years after his passing. KFC has kept him going through some very clever TV ad campaigns, most notably using popular actors made up to resemble him so well that it's a game to see if you can recognize them:

(answers at bottom of this post)

Good as they are, they weren't as memorable as SNL alums Darrell Hammond and the late Norm Macdonald

Thankfully KFC stopped when they achieved full weirdness with Game of Thrones "The Mountain" and Peter Weller doing RoboSanders

Actor Robert Kokol in "The Waterboy" provided running jokes

Depicted in pro wrestling by "Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels

and lesser-known wrestler Dolph Ziggler

(chicken tender coming right up)

He's graced books (it's real, in PDF)

Comics

and even the outlandish

But all that aside, you've TRULY made it when you become a Funko Pop figure

and achieve Muppethood

So despite his wonderful product being run into the ground by Yum! Foods the legacy of Harland Sanders will certainly outlive it.

(The KFC Sanders montage actors: Jason Alexander, Reba McEntire, Ray Liotta, Billy Zane, George Hamilton, Rob Lowe, Rob Riggle, Jim Gaffigan)

[minnesota_bound]

#33 are you sure it was chicken....?

...but the best overall fried chicken i’ve ever eaten was bought from a little old Grandma with her Hibachi out front of the baseball stadium in Daegu, ROK. Heavenly.

[minnesota_bound]

The KFC place near me needs a drive thru.
Pretty expensive meal.

[rolling_stone]

I remember a cartoon I think in playboy in the 70s of two police officers hauling the col. off to jail..it said something like we finally figured out what was in your 11 herbs and spices...

[Flaming Conservative]

Massive chicken leg? They’re so tiny now there’s not more than 3 bites each. But the price keeps going up, so there’s that...

[Flaming Conservative]

I read the Colonel hated what they did to the mashed potatoes after he sold his business to PepsiCo.

[KSCITYBOY]

btt

[Williams]

In the early days, They were massive, the breading and herbs were at a level of delicious that was just fantastic. Nothing like today’s which is greasy though it can be fun but omg greasy isn’t the word.
The Colonel’s original KFC has gone the way of Jersey tomatoes, which also used to be fantastic.

[Albion Wilde]

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[Crolis]

I think that was called the Cozy Restaurant. I used to go there in the 80s back when I lived near Frederick. Really neat restaurant but sadly closed now.

They had a big collection of old items from the early 20th century, including a telephone switchboard and old sewing machines. Was very cool to explore after dinner.

[Jamestown1630]

See post 42; they have a new one up there now that also does the ‘broasted’ chicken.