Matinee Classics - Sheb Wooley Biography & Filmography

Sheb Wooley ACTOR

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SHEB WOOLEY BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Sheb Wooley was born on April 10th, 1921 in Erick, Oklahoma. He was raised in Oklahoma where he spent his childhood working as a cowhand and excelled as a horseback rider. He was very interested in music from a young age and as he grew older he was able to use his talents to find work in radio as well as television.

When he was only fifteen years old he formed his own musical group, The Plainview Melody Boys. he later tried to join the military during World War II but was denied due to many injuries he had suffered as a youth doing rodeo.

Wooley loved music and entertaining but to support himself financially, he found work in the oil industry and as a welder. In his mid 20's, he relocated to Fort Worth, Texas and began to focus on his music career becoming a country and western musician.

Later, Wooley decided to relocate to the land of entertainment and picked up and moved to Hollywood in 1949. It did not take long before he was finding work in a number of western films due to his rodeo talent along with musical talents.

Some of his early roles included the series, "The Adventures of Kit Carson" (1951-1955), "Stories of the Century" (1954), "The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin" (1954-1955), "My Friend Flicka" (1956) and the films, "The Cisco Kid" (1952), "High Noon" (1952) starring Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly and "Terror in a Texas Town" (1958).

Sheb had made quite a name for himself in Hollywood and soon began to add more prominent roles to his credits on such television series as "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp" (1956-1957), "Maverick" (1957), "Playhouse 90" (1957), "Death valley Days" (1965) and "Rawhide" (1959-1966).

In addition to his numerous television roles he continued to make appearances on such feature films as, "Giant" (1956) starring Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, James Dean and Dennis Hopper, "Country Boy" (1966), "War Wagon" (1967) starring John Wayne and Kirk Douglas, "The Outlaw Josey Wales" (1976) starring Clint Eastwood, "Silverado" (1985) and "Uphill All the Way" (1986).

Wooley is very well known for writing the theme song to the television show, "Hee Haw" and also working as a regular cast member. His final roles were on the films, "Hoosiers" (1986), "Purple People Eater" (1988) and the television series, "Murder, She Wrote" (1990).

Not only did he work as an actor, he continued to pursue his love of music and in the late 1950's he began a recording career with such songs as, "Purple People Eater", "That's My Pa" and "Don't Go Near the Eskimo's.

Sheb Wooley then retired and moved with his only wife, Linda Wooley to Tennessee. They remained together until he passed away on September 16th, 2003 in Nashville, Tennessee after suffering from leukemia. His remains are buried in Hendersonville Memory Gardens in Hendersonville, Tennessee.