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Jimmy Weldon

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Jimmy Weldon
Jimmy Weldon in 2015
Born (1923-09-23) September 23, 1923 (age 101)
NationalityAmerican
OccupationActor
Years active1946–2015

Jimmy Weldon (born September 23, 1923) is an American voice actor, ventriloquist, and former television host. He is best known as the voice of the Hanna-Barbera cartoon character Yakky Doodle and the host and ventriloquist in the locally produced television series The Webster Webfoot Show.

Early life

Born Ivy Laverne Shinn on September 23, 1923, in Dale, Texas, 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 Jimmy was playing record requests from listeners calling in. Often they just wanted to talk to little Webster. They thought Webster was someone other than Jimmy, and so he became an important part of Jimmy's disc jockey presentations.

Television acting

In 1948, Jimmy (and Webster Webfoot) moved to Duncan, Oklahoma, where they performed on another 250-watt AM station, KRHD, for two more years. The big 50,000-watt radio station WFAA in Dallas, Texas, recruited Webster and Jimmy 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.

They moved to California on September 5, 1952, joining KCOP-TV, Channel 13, in Hollywood and continued their television careers. During an appearance at a middle school in Brentwood, Jeff Chandler and Randolph Scott collected the tickets from the children and parents who came to see the show. These two movie stars made Jimmy feel very lucky indeed when they commented, "Our children think more of little Webster than they do OUR movie careers." Also, Ralph Edwards was there, and he later gave Webster and Jimmy the positions as co-hosts of a new children's game show titled Funny Boners, a junior version of his famous Truth or Consequences radio and television shows, which aired on ABC.

In 1956 Jimmy and Webster moved to Fresno, California, which began a career in the San Joaquin Valley at KFRE-TV, Channel 12. This was interrupted, however, when NBC executives called them to New York to replace Shari Lewis 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, Jimmy and Webster were called back to the San Joaquin Valley. They continued performing their show on KJEO-TV, Channel 47, in Fresno, California, throughout the 1960s. During this time, Jimmy 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 Jimmy. He also was the voice of Solomon Grundy on Hanna-Barbera's series Challenge of the Super Friends. Jimmy has also made numerous television appearances in acting on shows such as Dragnet, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Waltons, Dallas, and Diff'rent Strokes. He also continues to do voice-overs for various television shows and cartoons.

Weldon has also played some supporting characters on the popular radio drama Adventures in Odyssey and in classic serials and TV series. He is currently a member of the Premiere Speakers Bureau.

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1950 Webster Webfoot Show Uncle Jimmy
1955 The Halls of Ivy Episode: "Calhoun Gaddy"
Alfred Hitchcock Presents Guard Episode: "Breakdown"
1956-1957 Dragnet Hotel Clerk 2 Episodes
1959 Cartooneroony Uncle Jimmy
1961 The Phantom Planet Lt. Webb
1961-1962 The Yogi Bear Show Yakky Doodle (voice) 33 episodes
1975 The Waltons Railroad Clerk Episode: "The Runaway"
S.W.A.T. Diner Owner Episode: "Kill S.W.A.T."
The Family Holvak Auctioneer Episode: "First Love: Part 1"
1976 The_New_Daughters_of_Joshua_Cabe Television film
1977 Fred Flintstone and Friends (voice)
The Oregon Trail Ludlow Episode: "Hard Ride Home"
1978 Challenge of the Super Friends Solomon Grundy (voice) 16 Episodes
1979 B.J. and the Bear Crockett Episode: "Lobo's Revenge"
Americathon Big Jim, VP Research
Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo Additional Voices
Dallas Sy Stevens Episode: "Ellie Saves the Day"
The Rockford Files John Rockfield Episode: "The Big Cheese"
1981 Diff'rent Strokes Ben Episode: "Drummond's Fair Lady"
1982 The Little Rascals Additional Voices Episode: "Rascal's Revenge"
Father Murphy Official Episode: "Happiness Is..."
Knight Rider Announcer Episode: "Slammin' Sammy's Stunt Show Spectacular"
Ri¢hie Ri¢h Additional Voices Episode: "Dollar's Exercise"/"Richie's Cube"/"The Maltese Monkey"/"Everybody's Doing It"
Yogi Bear's All Star Comedy Christmas Caper Yakky Doodle / Zookeeper (voice) Television film
1983 The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show (voice)
Shirt Tales Additional Voices 10 Episodes
Super Friends Solomon Grundy (voice) Episode: "The Revenge of Doom"
1984 Chattanooga Choo Choo Rev. Norbert Puckett Uncredited
Challenge of the GoBots Additional Voices
1985 CBS Storybreak (voice) Episode: "Robbut A Tale Of Tails"
Yogi's Treasure Hunt Yakky Doodle / Additional Voices 2 Episodes
1988 The Wrong Guys Scoutmaster
1988-1991 Fantastic Max Additional Voices 3 Episodes
1989 It's a Living Billy Lee Lord Episode: "Wedding, Wedding"
1992 Tom & Jerry Kids Show Additional Voices Episode: "Penthouse Mouse"/"12 Angry Sheep"/"The Ant Attack"
2015 The 7D Whoopty Doopty Schmoodily Duck (voice) Episode: "Bing Bong Beans!"