joseph dave petitjean, jr. (january 11, 1928 – june 18, 2013) was an american actor and humorist of cajun stories. born in 1928 in rayne, louisiana, he attended college at louisiana state university at the age of 16, before joining the united states navy and serving aboard the uss estes command ship during world war ii. after the war, petitjean studied agriculture at southwest louisiana institute (now the university of louisiana at lafayette). he graduated and worked for a local chemical company, from which he retired 25 years later. he then worked for an insurance company until retiring in 2000.