27 Facts About Sheb Wooley

Shelby Fredrick Wooley was an American singer, songwriter, and actor.

Sheb Wooley recorded a series of novelty songs including the 1958 hit rock and roll comedy single "The Purple People Eater" and under the name Ben Colder the country hit "Almost Persuaded No 2".

Sheb Wooley was born in 1921 in Erick, Oklahoma, the third son of William C Wooley and Ora E Wooley.

Sheb Wooley had two older brothers, Logan and Hubert, as well as a younger brother, William.

Sheb Wooley married for the first time in 1940, wedding 17-year-old Melva Miller, a cousin of Roger Miller who would later become a successful song writer and actor himself.

Sheb Wooley became friends with Miller when he lived in Oklahoma.

Sheb Wooley taught the boy how to play guitar chords and bought his first fiddle for him.

At the age of 15, with a talent for music, Sheb Wooley formed a band called the "Plainview Melody Boys", that periodically performed on radio at station KASA in Elk City, Oklahoma.

Sheb Wooley's music encompassed Western swing, country, hillbilly, rock and roll, pop and novelty songs.

At the start of the 1950s, Sheb Wooley began fusing Western swing with rhythm and blues, but later in his career his music would shift to the more commercial Nashville sound.

In 1958, Sheb Wooley earned considerable fame with his hit rock and roll comedy single, "The Purple People Eater", utilizing tape manipulation inspired by the David Seville single "Witch Doctor".

That same year, Sheb Wooley intended to record the song "Don't Go Near the Indians", but he was delayed by an acting job.

Sheb Wooley would do the sequel to the song, "Don't Go Near the Eskimos", about a boy in Alaska named Ben Colder.

Outside of Hee Haw, Sheb Wooley released music and performed as Ben Colder, although he would still sing under his own name as well.

Sheb Wooley continued to tour internationally and make personal concert appearances until his death in 2003.

Sheb Wooley recorded his last written song just four days before he died.

Sheb Wooley portrayed Bill Bronson on The Cisco Kid, Harry Runyon in "The Unmasking" on My Friend Flicka, and Shev Jones in "The Iron Trail" on Cheyenne.

Sheb Wooley appeared twice on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp.

Sheb Wooley appeared in dozens of Western films from the 1950s through the 1990s.

Sheb Wooley was in Rocky Mountain, and he portrayed outlaw Ben Miller in High Noon and Baxter in Terror in a Texas Town.

Sheb Wooley acted in major films, including Giant, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Silverado, and in Hoosiers.

Sheb Wooley is credited as the voice actor for the Wilhelm scream, having appeared on a memo as a voice extra for Distant Drums in which he had an acting role.

Sheb Wooley was diagnosed with leukemia in 1996, which forced him to retire from public performing in 1999.

Sheb Wooley died of the illness at the age of 82 at the Skyline Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, on September 16,2003.

Sheb Wooley was entombed in Hendersonville Memory Gardens in Hendersonville, Tennessee.

Sheb Wooley was the recipient of numerous awards over the years for his accomplishments as a singer, actor, and writer for both comedic and dramatic productions.

Sheb Wooley received the 1992 Songwriter of the Year, two Golden Boot Awards, and he won the Western Heritage Award for nine consecutive years in recognition of his film and television work in Westerns.