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Doodles Weaver Television screen-shot

Winstead Sheffield "Doodles" Weaver (May 11, 1911 – January 17, 1983) was an American comedian. He was the brother of NBC-TV executive Sylvester "Pat" Weaver and the uncle of actress Susan Alexandra "Sigourney" Weaver.

Born in Los Angeles, Weaver attended Stanford University, where he was a member of the Stanford Chaparral. In the 1940's he was a prominent member of Spike Jones' band The City Slickers. He is well remembered for his routine of a frantic and corny call of a horse race ("William Tell Overture", vide infra): "It's Girdle in the stretch! Locomotive is on the rail! Apartment House is second with plenty of room! It's Cabbage by a head!" and so on, segueing into an impression of the gravelly-voiced Clem McCarthy who forgets whether he's covering a horse race or a boxing match. The race features an apparent nag called "Feitlebaum", who begins at long odds, runs almost the entire race a distant last, and suddenly emerges as the winner. Weaver also portrayed a character in the Jones troupe called "Professor Feitlebaum". That name rhymed with, and was often mistaken for, "Beetlebaum" [1].

After his days with The City Slickers, Weaver hosted humorous children-oriented TV shows, and played eccentric characters in various guest appearances on other shows.

Weaver had a lifelong battle with alcoholism and faced declining health in his later years. He committed suicide by gunshot at age 72.

Quotations

• "On the radio this year I hope to score / With some funny jokes you've never heard before / I resolve not to tell a corny joke / [phone rings] Hello, what's that? The church burned down? Holy smoke!" (from Happy New Year, available on various Christmas novelty CDs)

• "...a man came up to me today and said "Doodles, your hair is getting thin" and I said "Well, who wants fat hair"?" (from "The Man on the Flying Trapeze", on the CD "The Best of Spike Jones", RCA, 1967).

• "(A man said) "Doodles... did you put the cat out"? I said "I didn't know he was on fire."" (op cit).

• (In a motor race at Indianapolis): "Every eye is glued onto that car. It looks very funny with all those eyes glued on it". (from Dance of the Hours, ibid).

Note: The prolonged, hysterical and excruciating antics of Doodles and "Feitlebaum" are also to be found on the cited "Best of..." album.

• Internet Movie Database entry
• 'Doodles' Weaver at The 1966 Batman Site
• 'Doodles' Weaver's Photo & Gravesite