Violet Hensley, the Arkansas fiddle maker and musician known nationally as the “Whittlin’ Fiddler,” has died at 109. Hensley passed away on Friday, August 7, 2026. Reporting on Violet Hensley’s death at 109 highlighted her decades-long career as a musician, fiddle maker and Silver Dollar City legend.
She was widely celebrated as one of Arkansas’s most prominent traditional musicians, with a career spanning decades of fiddle playing and handcrafted instrument making. Funeral arrangements were pending through Roller-Burns Funeral Home when her death was announced.
Violet Hensley Dies at 109
News of Hensley’s death spread quickly through the Ozark communities and country music circles that had embraced her for decades. Silver Dollar City, the Branson, Missouri theme park where she demonstrated her craft for more than 50 years, issued a statement marking her passing and celebrating her life.
A representative for the park said Hensley had touched the hearts of guests and citizens through her fiddle playing, warmth and stories. The representative also remembered her as more than one of America’s most respected fiddle makers and musicians, describing her as the heart of an Ozarks tradition that connected generations to the area.
The town of Leslie, Arkansas, which had honored Hensley as an official member of its community, also paid tribute. In a statement shared on Facebook, Leslie officials expressed sadness over the death of a true Arkansas legend and honorary member of the community. They noted that although Hensley called Yellville home, she held a special place in the hearts of Leslie residents.
As of publication, Hensley’s family, Silver Dollar City and other official sources had not publicly confirmed a cause of death.
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Who Was Violet Hensley?
The Encyclopedia of Arkansas biography of Violet Hensley records that Violet Brumley Hensley was born on October 21, 1916, near Mount Ida in Montgomery County, Arkansas, in the Ouachita National Forest region.
She was the daughter of George Washington Brumley, a musician and craftsman who had built his first fiddle in 1888, and Nora Springer Brumley. Hensley’s mother died when Violet was young, and her father taught her to carve and play the fiddle.
Hensley earned her nickname, the “Whittlin’ Fiddler,” because she did not simply play the instrument. She also built fiddles by hand using traditional tools and techniques passed down from her father. She began making her first fiddle at age 15, splitting wood with a hatchet and shaping it with hand planes and homemade curved knives.
In 1935, she married Adren Hensley, and the couple had nine children together. Hensley set aside fiddle-making for nearly three decades while raising her family. Adren died in 1997.
Her Life as a Fiddler and Fiddle Maker
Hensley returned to fiddle-making in the 1960s after stepping away from the craft for about 27 years to raise her family.
She was in her 50s when that comeback transformed a private skill into a public calling. Hensley reportedly handcrafted more than 70 fiddles during her lifetime, with each instrument taking about 260 hours to complete. Her craftsmanship eventually earned national attention, including a feature in National Geographic in 1970.
Television audiences also came to know her. Hensley appeared on “The Beverly Hillbillies” when the show’s cast filmed at Silver Dollar City. She also appeared on “The Art Linkletter Show,” “Captain Kangaroo,” and “Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee” in 1997.
Journalist Charles Kuralt profiled her for his “On the Road” series on CBS, while the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C., also featured her work.
Although declining eyesight eventually prevented her from building complete instruments in her later years, she continued working on smaller pieces and teaching others the craft.
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Violet Hensley and Silver Dollar City
Hensley’s association with Silver Dollar City, the Ozark Mountain theme park in Branson, Missouri, began in 1967 and continued for nearly six decades.
There, she became one of the park’s most recognizable figures, demonstrating fiddle-making and performing for generations of visitors. Following her death, the park described her as a “Silver Dollar City legend” and credited her with connecting generations of guests to authentic Ozark tradition.
In 1968, Hensley and her family settled in Yellville, Arkansas, where she lived for the rest of her life while continuing to travel for performances and demonstrations at Silver Dollar City and beyond.
Her Grand Ole Opry Appearance at 99
One of the most celebrated moments of Hensley’s later life came on August 6, 2016, when she made her Grand Ole Opry debut at age 99.
Performing the bluegrass standard “Angelina Baker,” she reportedly played with such speed and energy that the Opry’s house band worked to keep pace with her. Opry star Mike Snider had warned the crowd that Hensley played “her way.”
The debut was not her only Opry appearance. On April 14, 2018, at age 101, she returned to the Opry stage for a third performance and played “Faded Love.”
Violet Hensley’s Music and Cultural Legacy
Hensley’s significance extended well beyond any single performance. She represented a living link to 19th-century Ozark craft traditions after learning fiddle-building methods that traced back to her father’s earliest instruments in the 1880s.
Through decades of demonstrations, interviews, recordings and teaching, she carried those traditions from her Yellville workshop to national television and one of the country’s most storied musical stages.
She released music with her family, beginning with the 1974 album “Old Time Fiddle Tunes.” In 2014, she published her autobiography, “Whittlin’ and Fiddlin’ My Own Way: The Violet Hensley Story,” co-written with Randall Franks. The book chronicled her journey from a childhood in the Ouachita National Forest to national recognition.
Violet Hensley’s Honors and Achievements
Hensley received several formal honors throughout her long career in recognition of her artistry and cultural contributions.
Arkansas Living Treasure
In 2004, the Arkansas Arts Council designated Hensley an “Arkansas Living Treasure,” recognizing her artistic excellence and lifelong work preserving traditional fiddle-making.
National Fiddler Hall of Fame
On March 30, 2018, at age 101, Hensley entered the National Fiddler Hall of Fame. The official National Fiddler Hall of Fame profile of Violet Hensley recognizes her as a 2018 inductee.
Violet Hensley Day and Key to the City
In 2025, the town of Leslie, Arkansas, proclaimed a “Violet Hensley Day” and presented her with the Key to the City in recognition of her lifetime of preserving whittling and traditional Ozark music.
Smithsonian Recognition
The Smithsonian Institution also documented Hensley’s work and cultural presence. A Smithsonian archival record featuring Violet Hensley forms part of the National Museum of American History’s archival collection.
What Is Known About Violet Hensley’s Cause of Death?
At this time, Hensley’s family, Silver Dollar City and other official sources have not publicly confirmed a specific cause of death.
Statements from Silver Dollar City and the town of Leslie, Arkansas, announced her death and celebrated her life and legacy, but neither disclosed a cause.
Fresh Global News will update this article if a family representative, funeral home or another authoritative source releases additional information.
Violet Hensley’s Legacy
Violet Hensley’s life stretched across more than a century of American history, from a childhood spent learning to whittle fiddles beside her father in the Ouachita Mountains to the Grand Ole Opry stage at age 99.
She became, in the words of Silver Dollar City, the heart of an Ozarks tradition that connected generations to a place and a craft.
Her death closes a remarkable chapter in Arkansas cultural history, but the instruments she built by hand, the recordings she made and the traditions she taught to others ensure that her influence on Ozark and American folk music will continue well beyond her lifetime.
