Doodles Weaver


Winstead Sheffield Glenndenning Dixon "Doodles" Weaver was an American character actor, comedian, and musician.
Born into a wealthy West Coast family, Weaver began his career in radio. In the late 1930s, he performed on Rudy Vallée's radio programs and Kraft Music Hall. He later joined Spike Jones' City Slickers. In 1957, Weaver hosted his own NBC variety show The Doodles Weaver Show. In addition to his radio work, he also recorded a number of comedy records, appeared in films and guest starred on numerous television series from the 1950s through the 1970s. Weaver made his last onscreen appearance in 1981. Despondent over poor health, Weaver fatally shot himself in January 1983.

Early life

Born in Los Angeles, Weaver was one of four children born to Sylvester Laflin Weaver, a wealthy roofing contractor, and Annabel Weaver. His older brother was Sylvester "Pat" Weaver who served as the President of NBC in the 1950s. Weaver's niece is actress Sigourney Weaver. He was of English and Scottish ancestry, including roots in New England. Weaver's mother gave him the nickname "Doodlebug" as a child because of his freckles and big ears.
He attended Los Angeles High School and Stanford University. At Stanford, Weaver was a contributor to the Stanford Chaparral humor magazine. He was also known to engage in numerous pranks and practical jokes and earned the nickname "The Mad Monk". He was reportedly suspended from Stanford in 1937 for pulling a prank on the train home from the Rose Bowl.

Career

Radio and recordings

On radio during the late 1930s and early 1940s, he was heard as an occasional guest on Rudy Vallée's program and on the Kraft Music Hall.
In 1946, Weaver signed on as a member of Spike Jones's City Slickers band. Weaver was heard on Jones's 1947–49 radio shows, where he introduced his comedic Professor Feetlebaum, a character who spoke in Spoonerisms. Part of the Professor's shtick was mixing up words and sentences in various songs and recitations as if he were suffering from myopia and/or dyslexia. Weaver toured the country with the Spike Jones Music Depreciation Revue until 1951. The radio programs were often broadcast from cities where the Revue was staged.
One of Weaver's most popular recordings is the Spike Jones parody of Rossini's "William Tell Overture". Weaver gives a close impression of the gravel-voiced sports announcer Clem McCarthy in a satire of a horse race announcer who forgets whether he's covering a horse race or a boxing match. The race features a nag named Beetlebaum, who begins at long odds, runs the race a distant last—and yet suddenly emerges as the winner. The oft-repeated "Beetlebaum" became so identified with the record that RCA reprinted the record label, adding "Beetlebaum" in parentheses after the song title. Jones and Weaver followed this hit with a 1949 parody of the Indianapolis 500 automobile race, again with Weaver as commentator, and set to Ponchielli's "Dance of the Hours". The surprise winner? Beetlebaum. When an angry listener named Beetlebaum threatened a lawsuit, Weaver changed the name to Feetlebaum.
In 1966, Weaver recorded a novelty version of "Eleanor Rigby"—singing, mixing up the words, insulting, and interrupting, while playing the piano.

Writing

Weaver was a contributor to the early Mad, as described by Time's Richard Corliss:

Films and television

Weaver made his television debut on The Colgate Comedy Hour in 1951. He performed an Ajax cleanser commercial with a pig, and the audience reaction prompted the network to give him his own series. In 1951, The Doodles Weaver Show was NBC's summer replacement for Sid Caesar's Your Show of Shows; it was telecast from June to September with Weaver, his wife Lois, vocalist Marian Colby, and the comedy team of Dick Dana and Peanuts Mann. The show's premise involved Weaver dealing with an assignment to stage a no-budget television series using only the discarded costumes, sets and props left behind by more popular network television shows away for the summer. The series ended in July 1951.
Weaver went on to guest star on numerous television shows including The Spike Jones Show, The Donna Reed Show, Dennis the Menace, and The Tab Hunter Show. He also hosted several children's television series. In 1965, he starred in A Day With Doodles, a series of six-minute shorts sold as alternative fare to cartoons for locally hosted kiddie television programs. Each episode featured Weaver in a first-person plural adventure, portraying himself and, behind false mustaches and costume hats, all the other characters in slapstick comedy situations with a voice over narration and minimal sets. The ending credits would invariably list "Doodles... Doodles Weaver" and "Everybody Else... Doodles Weaver."
He portrayed eccentric characters in guest appearances on such television series as Batman, Land of the Giants, Dragnet 1967 and The Monkees. He appeared in more than 90 films, including The Great Imposter, Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds , Jerry Lewis's The Nutty Professor, Pocketful of Miracles and, in a cameo, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. He appeared in Six Pack Annie. His last movie was Earthbound.

Personal life

Weaver was married four times and had three children. His first marriage was to Beverly Masterman in 1939. They had one child. They later divorced. His second marriage was to Evelyn Irene Paulsen from 1946 to 1949. In 1949, Weaver married for a third time to nightclub dancer Lois Frisell, who had the marriage annulled in 1954.
Weaver's fourth and final marriage was to actress Reita Anne Green in October 1957. They had two children before divorcing in 1969.

Death

On January 17, 1983, Weaver died of two self-inflicted gunshot wounds to the chest. His death was ruled a suicide. Weaver's son later said that his father had been despondent over his failing health. His funeral was held on January 22 at Forest Lawn mortuary in the Hollywood Hills. He was buried in Avalon Cemetery in Santa Catalina Island, California.
Weaver's memoirs, Golden Spike, remain unpublished.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1956Sheriff of CochiseJoe HeapEpisode: "Caine and Abel"
1957The Pied Piper of HamelinFirst CounselorTelevision film
Uncredited
1958Club OasisSea Captain2 episodes
1959MaverickLemEpisode: "Gun-Shy"
1960You Bet Your LifeHimself-ContestantEpisode: "59-20"
1960SugarfootSimon MillerEpisode: "Journey to Provision"
1960FuryJakeEpisode: "Packy's Dilemma"
1960LawmanJack Stiles4 episodes
1961Wagon TrainEfen DirkinEpisode: "The Joe Muharich Story"
1961ShannonShoes MaloneEpisode: "The King Leal Report"
1961LaramieGeorgeEpisode: "Handful of Fire"
1962The Dick Van Dyke ShowBailiffEpisode: "One Angry Man"
1962Mr. Smith Goes to WashingtonPeavey SimpsonEpisode: "The Country Sculptor"
1962Dennis the MenaceNeedy Man #2Episode: "Poor Mr. Wilson"
1962"The Joey Bishop Show"Mr. JohnsonEpisode: The Big Date
1963Have Gun – Will TravelHildreth – General Store Prop.Episode: "Shootout at Hogtooth"
1963The Wide CountryJonesEpisode: "The Judas Goat"
1963The Adventures of Ozzie & HarrietJanitorEpisode: "Dave's Law Office"
1961–1963The Andy Griffith ShowVarious roles2 episodes
1964The Travels of Jaimie McPheetersPettigrewEpisode: " The Day of the Tin Trumpet"
1964The VirginianStationmasterEpisode: "Rope of Lies"
1964The Alfred Hitchcock HourGreggEpisode: "Body In the Barn"
1965Petticoat JunctionChester FarnsworthEpisode: "The Curse of Chester Farnsworth"
1965LaredoVarious roles2 episodes
1966BatmanCrier Tuck2 episodes
1967My Three SonsJesse ProutyEpisode: "The Good Earth"
1967The Man from U.N.C.L.E.StationmasterEpisode: "The Pieces of Fate Affair"
1967The MonkeesButlerEpisode: "Monkees Manhattan Style"
1967–70DragnetNumerous episodes
1971The Jimmy Stewart ShowHalstedEpisode: "Pro Bono Publico"
1976Banjo Hackett: Roamin' FreeOld TurkeyTelevision film
1976Starsky and HutchEddie Hoyle
1979Fantasy IslandBlindmanEpisode: "Spending Spree/The Hunted"

In popular culture