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Jimmy Weldon
Weldon in 2015
Born	Ivy Laverne Shinn (1923-09-23)September 23, 1923 Dale, Texas, U.S.
Died	July 6, 2023(2023-07-06) (aged 99) Paso Robles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1946–2015
Spouse	Muriel Jones ​ ​(m. 1947; died 1988)​

Jimmy Weldon (born Ivy Laverne Shinn, September 23, 1923 – July 6, 2023) was an American actor, ventriloquist, and television host. He was 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. He also had a YouTube channel titled Jimmy's Lecture, where he documented stories of his time in World War II.

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 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, 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 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.

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 Weldon 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 Weldon 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, Weldon 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, Weldon 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, 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 Weldon earned the voice-over for the Hanna-Barbera cartoon character, Yakky Doodle. He also was the voice of Solomon Grundy on Hanna-Barbera's series Challenge of the Superfriends, and made appearances in acting on shows such as Dragnet, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Waltons, Dallas, and Diff'rent Strokes.

Weldon also played some supporting characters on the popular radio drama Adventures in Odyssey, and was a member of the Premiere Speakers Bureau.

Death

Weldon died at an assisted living residence in Paso Robles, California, on July 6, 2023, at the age of 99.

Filmography

References

1. "Ivy Laverne Shinn". U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940–1947. Archived from the original on August 10, 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
2. "Jimmy Weldon". Dignity Memorial. Archived from the original on July 11, 2023. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
3. Barnes, Mike (July 11, 2023). "Jimmy Weldon, Ventriloquist and Voice of the Cartoon Duck Yakky Doodle, Dies at 99". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on July 11, 2023. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
4. Evans, Greg (July 11, 2023). "Jimmy Weldon Dies: Voice Of Hanna-Barbera's Yakky Doodle Duck Was 99". Deadline. Archived from the original on July 11, 2023. Retrieved July 11, 2023.

External links

• Official website
• Jimmy Weldon at IMDb
• Interview on Stu's Show

• 1923 births
• 2023 deaths
• 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
• People from Caldwell County, Texas