Popcorn Sutton
| Popcorn Sutton | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Marvin Sutton October 5, 1946 Maggie Valley, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Died | March 16, 2009 (aged 62) Parrottsville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Occupation | Moonshiner, bootlegger |
| Notable work | Popcorn Sutton's Tennessee White Whiskey |
| Spouse(s) | Pam Sutton |
| Children | 1 confirmed |
Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton (October 5, 1946 – March 16, 2009) was an American Appalachian moonshiner and bootlegger. Born in Maggie Valley, North Carolina, he grew up, lived, and died in the rural areas around Maggie Valley and nearby Cocke County, Tennessee. He wrote a self-published autobiographical guide to moonshining production, self-produced a home video depicting his moonshining activities, and was later the subject of several documentaries, including one that received a Regional Emmy Award.
Sutton committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning in March 2009, aged 62, rather than report to federal prison after being convicted of offenses related to moonshining and illegal firearm possession. Since his death, a new company and associated whiskey brand have been named after him.
Sutton had a long career making moonshine and bootlegging. Sutton said he considered moonshine production a legitimate part of his heritage, as he was a Scots-Irish American and descended from a long line of moonshiners. In the 1960s or 1970s, Sutton was given the nickname of "Popcorn" after his frustrated attack on a bar's faulty popcorn vending machine with a pool cue. Before his rise to fame at around 60 years of age, he had been in trouble with the law several times, but had avoided prison sentences. He was convicted in 1974 of selling untaxed liquor and in 1981 and 1985 on charges of possessing controlled substances and assault with a deadly weapon, but he received only probation sentences in those cases.
Sutton then wrote a self-published autobiography and guide to moonshine production called Me and My Likker, and began selling copies of it in 1999 out of his junk shop in Maggie Valley. The New York Times later called it "a rambling, obscene, and often hilarious account of his life in the trade". (A woman named Ernestine Upchurch, with whom Sutton had been living in the 1990s, later said she helped write the book.) At around the same time, Sutton produced a home video of the same title and released it on VHS tape.
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