Walter Tetley
Template:Short description Template:Infobox person Walter Tetley (born Walter Campbell Tetzlaff;<ref name="mr">Template:Cite book</ref> June 2, 1915 – September 4, 1975)<ref name=rs>DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960. McFarland & Company, Inc. Template:ISBN. p. 260.</ref> was an American actor specializing in child impersonation during radio's classic era. He had regular roles as Leroy Forrester on The Great Gildersleeve and Julius Abbruzzio on The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show, as well as continuing as a voice-over artist in animated cartoons, commercials, and spoken-word record albums. He is perhaps best known as the voice of Sherman in the Jay Ward-Bill Scott Mr. Peabody TV cartoons.
CareerEdit
Tetley's foray into voices for theatrical cartoons began in 1936, as the voice of Felix the Cat in three of Van Beuren's Rainbow Parade cartoon shorts: The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg, Neptune Nonsense, and Bold King Cole. The latter short starts with Tetley singing "Nature and Me", showcasing his song styling abilities.
In the late 1930s, he was often featured in Fred Allen's Town Hall Tonight. When Allen took his cast to Hollywood to film Love Thy Neighbor in 1940, Tetley decided to stay on the west coast, working on several radio shows, including The Great Gildersleeve, on which he portrayed Gildy's nephew Leroy until the show's end in 1958.
In the late 1940s, he was the voice of Andy Panda in the Walter Lantz Productions cartoons distributed by Universal Pictures.
In 1946, Tetley supplied the voice of the electric utility mascot Reddy Kilowatt in the short film Reddy Made Magic, produced by Lantz with Reddy Kilowatt creator Ashton B. Collins, Sr.; Tetley also performed the film's theme song.<ref>The Walter Lantz Cartune Encyclopedia (n.d.). Miscellaneous Cartunes: {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1959 he reprised the role in a John Sutherland-produced remake called The Mighty Atom.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Walter would become familiar to a new generation as the voice of Sherman, the nerdy, freckled, bespectacled boy sidekick of time-traveling dog genius Mr. Peabody, in the "Peabody's Improbable History" segments of Jay Ward's Rocky and His Friends (also known as The Bullwinkle Show), which made its debut in 1959.
Tetley worked for Capitol Records in the 1950s, providing an array of juvenile voices for the label's spoken-word and comedy albums, including Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America Volume One: The Early Years (1961). His Gildersleeve co-star, Harold Peary, had made three albums for Capitol a decade earlier, telling children's stories Gildersleeve-style.
In 1973 Tetley made an appearance on Rod Serling's radio series The Zero Hour. He could be heard in the "Princess Stakes Murder" episodes beginning the week of November 19.
"The Sheriff of Fetterman's Crossing", an episode of Serling's 1965 TV series The Loner, featured guest star Allan Sherman as a character named Walton Peterson Tetley.
Voice and appearanceEdit
For his entire adult life, Tetley had the voice and appearance of a preteen boy, which led to him largely taking voice roles for young boys. The exact cause was never confirmedTemplate:Sndwhile co-star Bill Scott half-jokingly claimed that Tetley had been castrated,<ref name=mr/> it is also possible that he had Kallmann syndrome. Whatever the cause, his unusual situation would allow him to hold roles for young boys far longer than actual boys of that age could before their voices would lower due to puberty.
DeathEdit
In 1971, Tetley was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident and used a wheelchair for the rest of his life. He died at the age of 60 on September 4, 1975, having never fully recovered from his injuries.<ref>WalterTetley.com</ref> His interment was in Chatsworth's Oakwood Memorial Park.
FilmographyEdit
Live-actionEdit
- A Trip to Paris (1938)Template:SndPage Boy
- Lord Jeff (1938)Template:SndTommy Thrums
- Sons of the Legion (1938)Template:SndShifty
- King of Alcatraz (1938)Template:SndNewsboy
- Prairie Moon (1938)Template:SndClarence "Nails" Barton
- Boy Slaves (1939)Template:SndPee Wee
- You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939)Template:SndBoy with Candy Cane (uncredited)
- The Spirit of Culver (1939)Template:SndHank
- The Family Next Door (1939)Template:SndBoy (uncredited)
- They Shall Have Music (1939)Template:SndRocks Mulligan
- First Love (1939)Template:SndWillie, Country Club Page (uncredited)
- Tower of London (1939)Template:SndChimney Sweep
- Emergency Squad (1940)Template:SndMatt (uncredited)
- Framed (1940)Template:SndMurphy (uncredited)
- My Son, My Son! (1940)Template:SndNewsboy (uncredited)
- Tom Brown's School Days (1940)Template:SndStudent (uncredited)
- Military Academy (1940)Template:SndCadet Blackburn
- Under Texas Skies (1940)Template:SndTheodore
- The Villain Still Pursued Her (1940)Template:SndTelegram Boy (uncredited)
- A Little Bit of Heaven (1940)Template:SndBoy in Crowd (uncredited)
- Let's Make Music (1941)Template:SndEddie
- Ride, Kelly, Ride (1941)Template:SndJockey (uncredited)
- Horror Island (1941)Template:SndDelivery Boy (uncredited)
- The Devil and Miss Jones (1941)Template:SndStock Boy
- Out of the Fog (1941)Template:SndBuddy
- It Started with Eve (1941)Template:SndMessenger (uncredited)
- Sing Your Worries Away (1942)Template:SndMessenger Boy with Telegram (uncredited)
- Broadway (1942)Template:SndWestern Union Messenger (uncredited)
- The Pride of the Yankees (1942)Template:SndCake Delivery Boy (uncredited)
- Invisible Agent (1942)Template:SndNewsboy (uncredited)
- A Yank at Eton (1942)Template:SndNewsboy (uncredited)
- Moonlight in Havana (1942)Template:SndNewsboy (uncredited)
- Thunder Birds: Soldiers of the Air (1942)Template:SndMessenger Boy
- Who Done it? (1942)Template:SndElevator Operator (uncredited)
- Random Harvest (1942)Template:SndCall Boy (uncredited)
- The Gorilla Man (1943)Template:SndSammy
- It Comes Up Love (1943)Template:SndDelivery Boy (uncredited)
- Henry Aldrich Gets Glamour (1943)Template:SndClassroom Student (uncredited)
- Gildersleeve on Broadway (1943)Template:SndThe Bellhop (uncredited)
- Mystery Broadcast (1943)Template:SndPage Boy (uncredited)
- The Lodger (1944)Template:SndCall Boy
- Her Primitive Man (1944)Template:SndBellhop (uncredited)
- Pin Up Girl (1944)Template:SndMessenger Boy (uncredited)
- Follow the Boys (1944)Template:SndSoldier (uncredited)
- Casanova Brown (1944)Template:SndFlorist's Assistant (uncredited)
- Bowery to Broadway (1944)Template:SndAttendant (uncredited)
- I'll Remember April (1945)Template:SndMail Boy (uncredited)
- It's in the Bag! (1945)Template:Snd2nd Elevator Operator (uncredited)
- Molly and Me (1945)Template:SndGrocery Boy
- Red Garters (1954)Template:SndGun-toting Kid (voice, uncredited)
AnimationEdit
- The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg (1936)Template:SndFelix the Cat
- Neptune Nonsense (1936)Template:SndFelix the Cat
- Bold King Cole (1936)Template:SndFelix the Cat
- Adventures of Tom Thumb Jr. (1940)Template:SndTom Thumb Jr.<ref name="CartoonVoices">Template:Cite book</ref>
- The Haunted Mouse (1941)Template:SndMouse
- The Painter and the Pointer (1944)Template:SndAndy Panda (uncredited)
- Crow Crazy (1945)Template:SndAndy Panda (uncredited)
- Apple Andy (1946)Template:SndAndy Panda (uncredited)
- Mousie Comes Home (1946)Template:SndAndy Panda (uncredited)
- The Wacky Weed (1946)Template:SndAndy Panda, Glads (uncredited)<ref name="CartoonVoices" />
- Banquet Busters (1948)Template:SndAndy Panda, Mouse (uncredited)<ref name="CartoonVoices" />
- Playful Pelican (1948)Template:SndAndy Panda (uncredited)
- Dog Tax Dodgers (1948)Template:SndAndy Panda (uncredited)
- Scrappy Birthday (1948)Template:SndAndy Panda (uncredited)
- Georgie and the Dragon (1951)Template:SndGeorgie (uncredited)<ref name="CartoonVoices" />
- The Woody Woodpecker Show (1957)Template:SndAndy Panda
- The Best of Mr. Peabody & Sherman (1959)Template:SndSherman
- Rocky and His Friends (1959–1961)Template:SndSherman, Joey Tell, Girl
- The Bullwinkle Show (1961–1963)Template:SndSherman, Joey Tell, Girl
- The Dudley Do-Right Show (1969)Template:SndAdditional voices
- A Christmas Story (1972)Template:SndTimmy
ReferencesEdit
NotesEdit
External linksEdit
- [https://www.imdb.com/{{#if: 0856533
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