Popcorn Sutton

Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton (October 5, 1946 – March 16, 2009) was an American Appalachian moonshiner from Maggie Valley, North Carolina. 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 a documentary that won a Regional Emmy Award.

He committed suicide in 2009 rather than report to Federal prison after being convicted of offenses related to moonshine production. Since his death, a new company and associated whiskey brand have been named after him.

Bootlegging and moonshining career

Sutton had a long career making moonshine and bootlegging. Most of the time he was able to avoid law enforcement, although he was placed on probation in the 1970s and the 1990s. In 1999, Sutton published Me and My Likker, an autobiography and guide to moonshine production. Around the same time he produced a home video of the same title and released it on VHS tape. His first broadcast appearance was in Neal Hutcheson's documentary, Mountain Talk, in 2002. Sutton next appeared in the film that would become the cornerstone of his notoriety, This is the Last Dam Run of Likker I'll Ever Make. Filmed and released in 2002, the film quickly became a cult classic and over time drew the attention of television producers in Boston and New York. The source footage from this project was re-worked into the documentary The Last One that was released in 2008, which received a Southeast Emmy Award. Some of the documentary footage was later used in the 2011–2012 season of the Moonshiners television series produced by Discovery Channel. Sutton was also featured in the 2007 documentary Hillbilly: The Real Story on The History Channel.