Brian,
I was happy to see your web site about Walter. He truly deserves more recognition than he has been given. I have also been trying for years to find more information about his life. A few years ago when I found out he had died, I was able to obtain a copy of his death certificate. It lists the date of death as September 7, 1975, which conflicts with the Sept. 4 date that you’ll always find on the internet. It also lists the cause of death as stomach cancer, which would have nothing to do with the motorcycle accident, and his last residence as being in Woodland Hills. He spent the last fews months of his life in a convalescent home in the valley. If you want a copy of his death certificate and also a copy of his obituary which appeared in “Variety” in October of 1975, I’ll be happy to send them to you.
I had never heard of the motorcycle accident before I read your website, or about him living in a trailor near the beach. This was quite interesting to me and I would be interested in any other information you might have about him.
I noticed that Stan Freberg always refers to Walter as “my good friend Walter Tetley” when he does his old time radio broadcasts. If they were in fact good friends, he could probably provide a wealth of information if you could find a way to reach him, and if he were willing.
In your website, you really should mention Walter’s fine voice talent as “Leroy” in the “Great Gildersleeve” radio series. That was really his defining role.
I look forward to hearing from you. I’m sending this from my office but please feel free to use my home e-mail address, which is donnyh@catholic.org .
Don H
Don: We actually do mention quite a few things about Walter’s Radio career in PEABODY’S PONY EXPRESS. We will probably make a note, in the Walter Tetley Tribute, sometime soon, to the readers, to visit that part of our website to learn more about his Radio career, because many folks have been pointing this out to me. Apparently a lot of people do not go to the PONY EXPRESS and they miss this.
As I told another reader, to date I have decided not to go into great detail, about his Radio career, in the Tribute, because I thought that it would be nice to let our Readers get some of the credit, for the info, in the PONY EXPRESS……. And also this would be a way of having unique different info, in the PONY EXPRESS, that is not in the Tribute (and thereby not duplicate information in two spots).
I never did think that Walter died from the motorcycle accident…….I figured that it was probably something else, like cancer………..because he did linger for a few years after the accident. But I am sure that that did not help, with his overall stamina and strength, in the last years. Had he not already been in that accident, and suffered those injuries, etc., I am sure that he might have fared the cancer a tad bit easier……..even if it was terminal.
I would be VERY INTERESTED to see the copy of the things that you have told me about……..the certificate, the obit., etc……..Could you please email those to us? Maybe we could post that info on the PONY EXPRESS, or elsewhere on the site, if you do not mind.
I have to stop, right now; I may email you, later on, with some other comments.
Thanks a lot!
Brian