Biography

Colonel Sanders: America's Chicken King (1998x4)

Air date: Dec 06, 1998

Here is the story of the fast-food giant who waited 65 years before he hit it big. For the first 65 years of his life, he bounced from job to job, trying to make ends meet. It was only after he collected his first social security check that he found the secret to success. Colonel Sanders' face is one of the most recognizable commercial icons in the world. Yet few people know the story of the man behind the chicken franchise. BIOGRAPHY® interviews his two daughters and official biographer to tell the rags-to-riches story of the country boy from Indiana. Family photos show him in the days before he became famous, behind the counter of the 6-seat dining room attached to a gas station where he perfected his blend of 11 herbs and spices. Discover how a fire launched him on the road to riches, and how he built an empire of 600 stores in just a decade. But even then, some of his old poor luck stayed with him when he sold the business, he opted for a $40,000 annual salary for life rather than stock options! Fellow fast-food maven Dave Thomas who cut his teeth at KFC helps tell the story of America's Chicken King.