Bob Waddell

Born 1928 Died Jan 24, 1990 SINGER BOB WADDELL DIES AT 62 SPURNED BIG TIME FOR GREENSBORO Died Jan 24, 1990 Arthur Godfrey called him the ``Dixie Baritone' and thought he could have been a star. But Bob Waddell said no to the big time. He chose to return to Greensboro and entertain on local television and in area clubs.Waddell died Tuesday at 62 from a lung illness that long-ago destroyed the rich voice that once belted out such pop classics as ``I Have the World on a String,' his favorite. ``I don't think he was every sorry he didn't pursue it further,' said Ann Jeffries Waddell, his widow, referring to opportunities her husband passed up in the 1950s. Bob Waddell appeared on the nationally-televised Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts in 1956. Passionately singing ``No Arms Can Ever Hold You,' he won the competition and then appeared on Godfrey's regular daytime show. The old redhead kept inviting Waddell back. Godfrey and his group of regulars, including the McGuire Sisters, encouraged Waddell to hit the national nightclub circuit, but Waddell was happy in Greensboro, close to family. He composed music, sang at the Plantation Supper Club, co-hosted ``TV Matinee' on WFMY (Channel 2) with Lee Kinard and hosted RC Dance Party, a Channel 2 version of Dick Clark's American Bandstand. Waddell, educated in a music conservatory and a great opera lover, didn't much like rock 'n' roll, but he fooled thousands of teeny-boppers who boogied live on the show. A national magazine noted him host of the year for his work. ``He was one of the zaniest human beings I have ever known,' Kinard, the long-time Channel 2 personality, said. ``And one of the most creative. He had a spontaneous creativity about him that allowed us to do things on TV Matinee that TV didn't do until the 70s. We did things that the Smothers Brothers and Saturday Night Live later did.' Waddell also performed behind the camera. Those casserole close-ups on Cordelia Kelly's ``What's Cooking' show long ago were often the work of cameraman Waddell. In the station's early years, Waddell sometimes pulled camera duty with a pet monkey perched on his back. He was famous for his practical jokes, but old timers most remember when he was the butt of one. ``He was singing 'Ebb Tide' live on a TV show,' recalled Bailey Hobgood, a former Channel 2 staff member who is now Greensboro Coliseum public relations director. ``When he hit the words 'When the tide rushes in,' someone hit him with a bucket of water.' Waddell laughed but kept on singing. ``He was the quintessential performer,' Kinard said. ROBERT WADDELL Robert Felts Waddell, 62, of 1514 Colonial Ave. died Tuesday at Moses Cone Memorial Hospital.Funeral will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at First Presbyterian Church, of which he was a member. Entombment will be in the church columbarium. A Durham native, he was a graduate of the Shenandoah Conservatory of Music and a former employee of WFMY, where he hosted Dance Party. He was a vocalist on TV Matinee, a former Arthur Godfrey Talent Scout winner and appeared numerous times on network television. He was a published composer of piano teaching pieces and a retired employee of Moore Music Co. Surviving are wife, Ann Bostic Waddell; brothers, Charles K. Waddell of Danville, Va., John B. Waddell of Raleigh; sisters, Mrs. Hazel Healey of Chapel Hill, Mrs. Helen DeDominick of Norfolk, Va., Mrs. Anna Bullock of Warrenton, Mrs. Ida Raines Hill of Durham.