Jimmy Weldon (born Ivy Laverne Shinn, September 23, 1923) is an American retired voice actor,
ventriloquist
Ventriloquism, or ventriloquy, is a performance act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) creates the illusion that their voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a puppeteered prop known as a "dummy". The act of ventriloquism is v ...
, and former television host. He is best known as the voice of the
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer t ...
cartoon character
Yakky Doodle
Yakky Doodle is a cartoon duck created by Hanna-Barbera Productions for the 1961 series '' The Yogi Bear Show''. Yakky's name is a spoof of " Yankee Doodle".
History
Yakky Doodle (voiced by Jimmy Weldon using the same buccal speech technique u ...
and the host and ventriloquist in the locally produced television series ''The Webster Webfoot Show''. Weldon has a
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...
channel titled ''Jimmy's Lecture'', where he documents stories of his adventures during his time in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
.
Early life
Born Ivy Laverne Shinn on September 23, 1923 in
Dale, Texas
Dale is an unincorporated community in Caldwell County, Texas, United States. The settlement had a population of 500 in 2000. It is located within the Greater Austin metropolitan area.
History
Dale was named for the valley in which it is located ...
,
he began his career in 1946 as a disc jockey at KWCO, the radio station which began its operations shortly after he returned home following WWII. He was the first announcer hired at this new radio station.
While there, he developed a character named Webster Webfoot, a little duck who visited him while he was playing record requests from listeners calling in. Often they just wanted to talk to little Webster. They thought Webster was someone other than Weldon, and so he became an important part of Weldon's disc jockey presentations.
Television acting
In 1948, Weldon (and Webster Webfoot) moved to
Duncan, Oklahoma
Duncan is a city and county seat of Stephens County, Oklahoma, United States. Its population was 22,310 at the 2020 census. Its main claim to fame is as the birthplace of the Halliburton Corporation. Erle P. Halliburton established the New Me ...
, where they performed on another 250-watt AM station,
KRHD, for two more years. The big 50,000-watt radio station
WFAA
WFAA (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Dallas, Dallas, Texas, United States, serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex as an affiliate of American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Decatur, Texas, Decat ...
in
Dallas, Texas
Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County wi ...
, recruited Webster and Weldon as entertainers, and Webster became a real person on television on April 4, 1950, on ''The Webster Webfoot Show'', produced locally by station
WFAA-TV
WFAA (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Dallas, Dallas, Texas, United States, serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex as an affiliate of American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Decatur, Texas, Decat ...
.
They moved to California on September 5, 1952, joining
KCOP-TV
KCOP-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast of the United States, West Coast flagship (broadcasting), flagship of MyNetworkTV. It is owned-and-operated station, ow ...
, Channel 13, in Hollywood and continued their television careers. During an appearance at a middle school in Brentwood,
Jeff Chandler
Jeff Chandler (born Ira Grossel; yi, יראַ גראָססעל; December 15, 1918 – June 17, 1961) was an American actor, film producer, and singer, best remembered for playing Cochise in '' Broken Arrow'' (1950), for which he was nom ...
and
Randolph Scott
George Randolph Scott (January 23, 1898 – March 2, 1987) was an American film actor whose career spanned the years from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for all but the first three years of his cinematic career, Scott appeared in a variety of ...
collected the tickets from the children and parents who came to see the show. These two movie stars made Weldon feel very lucky indeed when they commented, "Our children think more of little Webster than they do OUR movie careers." Also,
Ralph Edwards
Ralph Livingstone Edwards (June 13, 1913DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . Pp. 86-87. – November 16, 2005) was an American radio ...
was there, and he later gave Webster and Weldon the positions as co-hosts of a new children's
game show
A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, ...
titled ''Funny Boners'', a junior version of his famous ''
Truth or Consequences
''Truth or Consequences'' is an American game show originally hosted on NBC radio by Ralph Edwards (1940–1957) and later on television by Edwards (1950–1954), Jack Bailey (1954–1956), Bob Barker (1956–1975), Steve Dunne (1957–1958), ...
'' radio and television shows, which aired on
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
.
In 1956, Weldon and Webster moved to
Fresno, California
Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...
, which began a career in the
San Joaquin Valley
The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven ...
at
KFRE-TV
KFRE-TV (channel 59) is a television station licensed to Sanger, California, United States, serving the Fresno area as an affiliate of The CW. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside Visalia-licensed Fox affiliate KMPH-TV (channel ...
, Channel 12. This was interrupted, however, when NBC executives called them to New York to replace
Shari Lewis
Shari Lewis (born Phyllis Naomi Hurwitz; January 17, 1933 – August 2, 1998) was a Peabody-winning American ventriloquist, puppeteer, children's entertainer, television show host, dancer, singer, actress, author, and symphonic conductor. She wa ...
on the ''Hi, Mom'' show on NBC flagship station,
WRCA-TV, Channel 4.
In 1959, Channel 13 in Hollywood once again became their television home.
In 1961, Weldon and Webster were called back to the San Joaquin Valley. They continued performing their show on KJEO-TV, Channel 47, in
Fresno, California
Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...
, throughout the 1960s. During this time, Weldon and Webster also did TV shows in Salinas and Bakersfield, California, flying their airplane from city to city for those shows.
Voice acting and other work
It was thanks to Webster's voice that he earned the voice-over for the Hanna-Barbera cartoon character, Yakky Doodle. Many of the odd animal sounds were also performed by Weldon. He also was the voice of Solomon Grundy on Hanna-Barbera's series ''
Challenge of the Super Friends
''Challenge of the Superfriends'' is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes which ran from September 9, 1978, to December 23, 1978, on ABC. The complete series (16 episodes) was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and ...
''. Jimmy has also made numerous television appearances in acting on shows such as ''
Dragnet'', ''
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, aired on CBS and NBC between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers and mysteries. Between 1962 and 1965 it was r ...
'', ''
The Waltons
''The Waltons'' is an American historical drama television series about a family in rural Virginia during the Great Depression and World War II. It was created by Earl Hamner Jr., based on his 1961 book '' Spencer's Mountain'' and the 1963 fil ...
'', ''
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
'', and ''
Diff'rent Strokes
''Diff'rent Strokes'' is an American television sitcom, which aired on NBC from November 3, 1978, to May 4, 1985, and on ABC from September 27, 1985, to March 7, 1986. The series stars Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges as Arnold and Willis Jackson ...
''.
Weldon has also played some supporting characters on the popular radio drama ''
Adventures in Odyssey
''Adventures in Odyssey'' (AIO), or simply ''Odyssey'', is an Evangelical Christian radio drama and Radio comedy, comedy series created and produced by Focus on the Family. Aimed at families with children age 12 and younger, the series first air ...
'' and in classic serials and TV series. He is currently a member of the Premiere Speakers Bureau.
Filmography
References
External links
Jimmy Weldon's official Web site*
Interview on Stu's Show
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weldon, Jimmy
1923 births
Living people
American male voice actors
American male television actors
American television personalities
Hanna-Barbera people
Ventriloquists
Male actors from Texas
United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II