Sheb Wooley
Encyclopedia
Shelby F. "Sheb" Wooley (April 10, 1921 – September 16, 2003) was a character actor
and singer, best known for his 1958 novelty song "Purple People Eater
". He played Ben Miller, brother of Frank Miller in the film High Noon
, and also had a co-starring role as scout Pete Nolan in the television program
Rawhide
.
, and was raised on a farm
. He learned to ride horses at an early age, and was a working cowboy
and rodeo
rider. He also played in a country-western band. Wooley tried to enlist during World War II
, but was turned down for military service because of his rodeo injuries. Instead, he worked in the oil industry and as a welder. In 1946, he moved to Fort Worth, Texas
, and became a country and western musician. He moved to Hollywood in 1949.
Wooley appeared in dozens of western
film
s from the 1950s through 1970s, most notably High Noon
. In 1954, he played outlaw Jim Younger
in the syndicated
western series Stories of the Century
. Wooley appeared five times as Carl in the syndicated
western series The Adventures of Kit Carson
(1951–1955). He appeared in The Cisco Kid
in the role of Bill Bronson. Wooley guest starred as Harry Runyon in the episode "The Unmasking" of the CBS
western My Friend Flicka
. In 1958 he played Baxter in the movie Terror in a Texas Town
.
Wooley co-starred as Pete Nolan in the CBS western Rawhide
(1959–1966) with Eric Fleming
, Clint Eastwood
, and Paul Brinegar
. He also acted in the films The Outlaw Josey Wales
and Giant. Wooley also co-starred along with Gene Hackman in the movie Hoosiers. He played Cletus,the principal.
In the 1940s Wooley took an interest in his wife's young cousin, Roger Miller
(who also grew up in Erick, Oklahoma), teaching him to play guitar chords, and purchasing him a fiddle.
In the late 1950s, Wooley embarked on a recording career, with the song that made him famous, the "Purple People Eater". He followed this with a series of lesser novelty hits. Wooley wrote the theme song for the long-running television show Hee Haw
.
Wooley also had a string of country hits, his "That's My Pa
" reaching No. 1 of Billboard magazine's Hot C&W Sides
chart in March 1962. He was a regular on Hee Haw
and The Muppet Show
as the drunken country songwriter Ben Colder. He released music and performed as Ben Colder as well as under the stage name Guy Drake in the song "Welfare Cadillac" featured on the Porter Wagoner
show in 1970 with the album "Welfare Cadillac" released soon afterwards and Wooley also performed using his own name as well. Wooley had intended to record the song "Don't Go Near The Indians", but he was delayed by an acting job. Meanwhile, Rex Allen
recorded the song and it was a hit. Wooley said he did not mind - he would do the sequel. His version was "Don't Go Near the Eskimos", about a boy in Alaska named Ben Colder (had never "been colder"). His song was so successful he continued using the name for forty years, one of his last recordings being "Shaky Breaky Car" (which parodied the song "Achy Breaky Heart
").
Wooley is credited as the voice actor for the Wilhelm scream
, having appeared on a memo as a voice extra for Distant Drums
and later confirmed by his widow. This particular scream recording has been used by sound effects teams in over 149 films.
Wooley continued occasional television
and film appearances through the 1990s, including an appearance as Cletus Summers, principal of Hickory High School in the 1986 film Hoosiers
.
In 1996 he was diagnosed with leukemia
. He died at the Skyline Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee
in 2003 and was buried in Hendersonville Memory Gardens
in Hendersonville, Tennessee
.
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and singer, best known for his 1958 novelty song "Purple People Eater
Purple People Eater
"Purple People Eater" is a novelty song, written and performed by Sheb Wooley, that reached #1 in the Billboard pop charts in 1958.-Composition:...
". He played Ben Miller, brother of Frank Miller in the film High Noon
High Noon
High Noon is a 1952 American Western film directed by Fred Zinnemann and starring Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly. The film tells in real time the story of a town marshal forced to face a gang of killers by himself...
, and also had a co-starring role as scout Pete Nolan in the television program
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
Rawhide
Rawhide (TV series)
Rawhide is an American Western series that aired for eight seasons on the CBS network on Friday nights, from January 9, 1959 to September 3, 1965, before moving to Tuesday nights from September 14, 1965 until January 4, 1966, with a total of 217 black-and-white episodes...
.
Biography
Wooley was born in Erick, OklahomaErick, Oklahoma
Erick is a city in Beckham County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,052 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Erick is located at , elevation 2,060 feet ....
, and was raised on a farm
Farm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
. He learned to ride horses at an early age, and was a working cowboy
Cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...
and rodeo
Rodeo
Rodeo is a competitive sport which arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain, Mexico, and later the United States, Canada, South America and Australia. It was based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States,...
rider. He also played in a country-western band. Wooley tried to enlist during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, but was turned down for military service because of his rodeo injuries. Instead, he worked in the oil industry and as a welder. In 1946, he moved to Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
, and became a country and western musician. He moved to Hollywood in 1949.
Wooley appeared in dozens of western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s from the 1950s through 1970s, most notably High Noon
High Noon
High Noon is a 1952 American Western film directed by Fred Zinnemann and starring Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly. The film tells in real time the story of a town marshal forced to face a gang of killers by himself...
. In 1954, he played outlaw Jim Younger
Jim Younger
James Hardin "Jim" Younger was a notable American outlaw and member of the James-Younger gang. He was the brother of Cole, John and Bob Younger-Life:...
in the syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
western series Stories of the Century
Stories of the Century
Stories of the Century is a Western television series that ran in syndication through Republic Pictures between January 23, 1954, and March 11, 1955.-Synopsis:...
. Wooley appeared five times as Carl in the syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
western series The Adventures of Kit Carson
The Adventures of Kit Carson
The Adventures of Kit Carson is an American Western series that aired in syndication from August 1951 to November 1955, originally sponsored by Coca-Cola. It stars Bill Williams in the title role as frontier scout Christopher "Kit" Carson...
(1951–1955). He appeared in The Cisco Kid
The Cisco Kid (TV series)
The Cisco Kid is a half-hour American Western television series starring Duncan Renaldo in the title role, The Cisco Kid, and Leo Carrillo as the jovial sidekick, Pancho...
in the role of Bill Bronson. Wooley guest starred as Harry Runyon in the episode "The Unmasking" of the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
western My Friend Flicka
My Friend Flicka (TV series)
My Friend Flicka is a 39-episode western television series set at the fictitious Goose Bar Ranch in Wyoming at the turn of the 20th century. The program was filmed in color but initially aired in black and white on CBS at 7:30 p.m. Fridays from February 10, 1956, to February 1, 1957. It was a...
. In 1958 he played Baxter in the movie Terror in a Texas Town
Terror in a Texas Town
Terror in a Texas Town is a 1958 American Western film, directed by Joseph Lewis. The script was written by Dalton Trumbo, but due to Trumbo's status on the Hollywood Blacklist, Ben Perry initially received screenwriting credit....
.
Wooley co-starred as Pete Nolan in the CBS western Rawhide
Rawhide (TV series)
Rawhide is an American Western series that aired for eight seasons on the CBS network on Friday nights, from January 9, 1959 to September 3, 1965, before moving to Tuesday nights from September 14, 1965 until January 4, 1966, with a total of 217 black-and-white episodes...
(1959–1966) with Eric Fleming
Eric Fleming
Eric Fleming was an American actor, known primarily for his role as Gil Favor in the long running CBS television series Rawhide.-Early life:...
, Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
, and Paul Brinegar
Paul Brinegar
Paul Brinegar was an American character actor.Brinegar made over 100 appearances between 1946 and 1994, appearing in many western films, and played the barman in Clint Eastwood's High Plains Drifter in 1973...
. He also acted in the films The Outlaw Josey Wales
The Outlaw Josey Wales
The Outlaw Josey Wales is a 1976 American revisionist Western film set during and after the end of the American Civil War. It was directed by and starred Clint Eastwood , with Chief Dan George, Sondra Locke, Sam Bottoms, and Geraldine Keams.The film was adapted by Sonia Chernus and Philip Kaufman...
and Giant. Wooley also co-starred along with Gene Hackman in the movie Hoosiers. He played Cletus,the principal.
In the 1940s Wooley took an interest in his wife's young cousin, Roger Miller
Roger Miller
Roger Dean Miller was an American singer, songwriter, musician and actor, best known for his honky tonk-influenced novelty songs...
(who also grew up in Erick, Oklahoma), teaching him to play guitar chords, and purchasing him a fiddle.
In the late 1950s, Wooley embarked on a recording career, with the song that made him famous, the "Purple People Eater". He followed this with a series of lesser novelty hits. Wooley wrote the theme song for the long-running television show Hee Haw
Hee Haw
Hee Haw is an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with fictional rural Kornfield Kounty as a backdrop. It aired on CBS-TV from 1969–1971 before a 20-year run in local syndication. The show was inspired by Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, the major difference being...
.
Wooley also had a string of country hits, his "That's My Pa
That's My Pa
"That's My Pa" is a 1962 single by Sheb Wooley. "That's My Pa" would be Sheb Wooley's first single to hit the country chart and would also his most successful release hitting the number one spot for one week and staying on the charts for seventeen weeks ....
" reaching No. 1 of Billboard magazine's Hot C&W Sides
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
chart in March 1962. He was a regular on Hee Haw
Hee Haw
Hee Haw is an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with fictional rural Kornfield Kounty as a backdrop. It aired on CBS-TV from 1969–1971 before a 20-year run in local syndication. The show was inspired by Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, the major difference being...
and The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes...
as the drunken country songwriter Ben Colder. He released music and performed as Ben Colder as well as under the stage name Guy Drake in the song "Welfare Cadillac" featured on the Porter Wagoner
Porter Wagoner
Porter Wayne Wagoner was a popular American country music singer known for his flashy Nudie and Manuel suits and blond pompadour. He introduced the young Dolly Parton near the beginning of her career on his long-running television show, and they were a well-known duet throughout the late 1960s and...
show in 1970 with the album "Welfare Cadillac" released soon afterwards and Wooley also performed using his own name as well. Wooley had intended to record the song "Don't Go Near The Indians", but he was delayed by an acting job. Meanwhile, Rex Allen
Rex Allen
Rex Elvie Allen was an American film actor, singer and songwriter, known as the Arizona Cowboy, particularly known as the narrator in many Disney nature and Western film productions. For contributions to the recording industry, Allen was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.-Family...
recorded the song and it was a hit. Wooley said he did not mind - he would do the sequel. His version was "Don't Go Near the Eskimos", about a boy in Alaska named Ben Colder (had never "been colder"). His song was so successful he continued using the name for forty years, one of his last recordings being "Shaky Breaky Car" (which parodied the song "Achy Breaky Heart
Achy Breaky Heart
"Achy Breaky Heart" is a hit country music song written by Don Von Tress. Originally titled "Don't Tell My Heart", its name was later changed to "Achy Breaky Heart" and was recorded by Billy Ray Cyrus on his 1992 album Some Gave All. As Cyrus' debut single and signature song, it made him famous and...
").
Wooley is credited as the voice actor for the Wilhelm scream
Wilhelm scream
The Wilhelm scream is a film and television stock sound effect first used in 1951 for the film Distant Drums. The effect gained new popularity after it was used in Star Wars and many other blockbuster films as well as television programs and video games...
, having appeared on a memo as a voice extra for Distant Drums
Distant Drums
Distant Drums is a 1951 film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Gary Cooper. It is set during the Second Seminole War in the 1840s, with Cooper playing an Army captain who destroys a fort held by the Seminole Indians then retreats into the Everglades while under chase.The actual location of the...
and later confirmed by his widow. This particular scream recording has been used by sound effects teams in over 149 films.
Wooley continued occasional television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and film appearances through the 1990s, including an appearance as Cletus Summers, principal of Hickory High School in the 1986 film Hoosiers
Hoosiers
Hoosiers is a 1986 sports film about a small-town Indiana high school basketball team that wins the state championship. It is loosely based on the Milan High School team that won the 1954 state championship....
.
In 1996 he was diagnosed with leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
. He died at the Skyline Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
in 2003 and was buried in Hendersonville Memory Gardens
Hendersonville Memory Gardens
Hendersonville Memory Gardens located at 353 East Main Street in Hendersonville, Tennessee, USA was formerly known as Woodlawn Memorial Park East...
in Hendersonville, Tennessee
Hendersonville, Tennessee
Hendersonville is a city in Sumner County, Tennessee, United States, on Old Hickory Lake. The population was 51,372 at the 2010 census. Hendersonville is part of the Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area and is located 18 miles northeast of downtown Nashville. The city was settled around 1784 by...
.
Albums
| Year | Album | US Country | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | Sheb Wooley | — | MGM |
| 1960 | Songs from the Days of Rawhide | — | |
| 1962 | That's My Pa and That's My Ma | — | |
| 1963 | Tales of How the West Was Won | — | |
| Spoofing the Big Ones (as Ben Colder) | — | ||
| Ben Colder (as Ben Colder) | — | ||
| 1965 | The Very Best | — | |
| It's a Big Land | — | ||
| 1966 | Big Ben Strikes Again (as Ben Colder) | 17 | |
| 1967 | Wine Women & Song (as Ben Colder) | 44 | |
| 1968 | The Best of Ben Colder (as Ben Colder) | 44 | |
| Harper Valley P.T.A. (Later The Same Day) (as Ben Colder) | — | ||
| 1969 | Warm and Wooley | — | |
| Have One On (as Ben Colder) | — | ||
| 1970 | Big Ben Colder Wild Again (as Ben Colder) | — | |
| 1970 | Welfare Cadillac (as Guy Drake) | 20 | |
| 1971 | Live and Loaded (as Ben Colder) | — | |
| 1972 | Warming Up to Colder (as Ben Colder) | — | |
| 1973 | The Wacky World (as Ben Colder) | — |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales... |
US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
CAN Country | CAN Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays.... |
|||
| 1955 | "Are You Satisfied" | — | 95 | — | — | singles only |
| 1958 | "Purple People Eater Purple People Eater "Purple People Eater" is a novelty song, written and performed by Sheb Wooley, that reached #1 in the Billboard pop charts in 1958.-Composition:... " |
— | 1 | — | — | |
| 1959 | "Sweet Chile" | — | 70 | — | — | |
| 1962 | "That's My Pa That's My Pa "That's My Pa" is a 1962 single by Sheb Wooley. "That's My Pa" would be Sheb Wooley's first single to hit the country chart and would also his most successful release hitting the number one spot for one week and staying on the charts for seventeen weeks .... " |
1 | 51 | — | — | That's My Pa and That's My Ma |
| "Don't Go Near the Eskimos" (as Ben Colder) | 18 | 62 | — | — | Spoofing the Big Ones | |
| 1963 | "Hello Wall No. 2" (as Ben Colder) | 30 | 131 | — | — | Ben Colder |
| "Detroit City No. 2" (as Ben Colder) | — | 90 | — | — | Spoofing the Big Ones | |
| 1964 | "Blue Guitar" | 33 | — | — | — | The Very Best |
| 1966 | "I'll Leave the Singin' to the Bluebirds" | 34 | — | — | — | single only |
| "Almost Persuaded Almost Persuaded "Almost Persuaded" is a song written by Glenn Sutton and Muscle Shoals songwriter Billy Sherrill and first recorded by David Houston in 1966. It is not to be confused with the Christian hymn of the same name.... No. 2" (as Ben Colder) |
6 | 58 | — | 53 | Big Ben Strikes Again | |
| "Tonight's the Night My Angel's Halo Fell" | 70 | — | — | — | single only | |
| 1968 | "Tie a Tiger Down" | 22 | — | — | — | Warm and Wooley |
| "Harper Valley P.T.A. (Later That Same Day)" (as Ben Colder) | 24 | 67 | 18 | 82 | Harper Valley P.T.A. (Later That Same Day) | |
| 1969 | "Little Green Apples No. 2" (as Ben Colder) | 65 | — | — | — | |
| "I Remember Loving You" | 52 | — | — | — | Warm and Wooley | |
| "The One Man Band" | 63 | — | — | — | single only | |
| 1970 | "Big Sweet John" (as Ben Colder) | — | — | 47 | — | Have One On |
| 1970 | "Welfare Cadillac" (as Guy Drake) | 6 | 63 | 1 | 66 | Welfare Cadillac |
| 1971 | "Fifteen Beers Ago" (as Ben Colder) | 50 | — | — | — | Live and Loaded |
External links
- Official website
- [ Allmusic Entry]