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"As a child of the seventies, some of my best memories as a youngster in Martinsville, VA involve the Old Rebel. Most notably on snow days! "I remember one day in particular, after an overnight snowfall, we were off from school, and I stayed in to enjoy WFMY TV, Capt. Kangaroo, the Old Rebel and Gomer Pyle...after which I launched myself into an entire morning of sledding and snowball fights, followed by a thawing- out lunch of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Thanks, Old Rebel, wherever you are..." - BC
 "I
remember a special day. A special day especially if you lived in or around
Greensboro. It was my 5th birthday party. I was so excited because my
friends and I were going to be on "The Old Rebel" show.
"At first the butterflies were too intense because I was going to meet Old Rebel himself - and walk through that familiar door and shake the hand of someone I watch with great anticipation. "I remember sitting on those cold bleachers sipping on a Pepsi and watching Lonesome Lee entertain us with his worm sliding in and out of his big red apple. I felt so big and so loved at the same time. I knew I was with someone who cared for me and all my friends that were there with me that day. "Now that I am in my mid-thirties, I share my "Old Rebel" experience with my three boys. I can load my VCR tape into the machine and instantly go back in time, if only for a moment or two. I live in Greensboro now and seldom pass by WFMY, but when I do, I fondly remember Old Rebel. "Thank you Mr. Perry for living on in my memories. You are truly missed by children who admired you and your work." - Melinda Wrenn Thomas  
"I remember hearing my name announced that morning as the winner. My sister and brother were getting ready for school,my mother was in a hurry and I started yelling I WON,I WON!!! We were all so very excited! "I received my information packet in the mail with directions to the man's house,and a date for the sitting. My family drove me to his beautiful house where he had a studio set up to take picture portraits first and then later choose one of the portraits to paint. When the portrait was finished, I was invited to be on the Old Rebel Show with some of my friends to display my beautiful painting! "I still have the painting hanging in my home 33 years later! It was one of my most memorial events of my childhood. I dearly loved the show and wished that we still had sometime similar for our children to enjoy today." - Sincerely, Cathy Bailey Vipperman Jim Tucker left the Old Rebel Show in 1967 to join the on-air staff at WSJS Channel 12 (now WXII). He was the co-host of WSJS's morning program Today at Home. It lasted a few years against Channel 2's powerhouse ratings winner, The Good Morning Show with Lee Kinard. Tucker left WSJS in the 1970s to open a Baskin-Robbins in the Hanes mall.  Jim
Wiglesworth joined the show in 1967 and was one of the great cast members
of the Old Rebel Show over the years.
My dad thought that Jim had a great deal of pizzazz and talent. Jim was also quite a character - I remember journeying to Burlington's Holly Hill Mall with My dad, Jungle Jim, and Jim Waters, WFMY's photographer. John Elmore, who played Tiny the Clown on the show, was also the mall manager. He hired a lion-tamer and lions to appear for a week in the mall's center area. Jungle Jim was full of wild, rambunctious energy that day, and learning that the lions were a little irritable, dad told Jungle Jim to get "right in there with the lions, and if they don't eat you for dinner, I'll join you in the cage with Waters and the lion-tamer". Years later, my dad rode a jungle animal that proved to be an exciting experience - with Jerry Bledsoe, former Greensboro News journalist and now world-famous author, and the late Bob Poole of WBIG - the threesome opened the circus by riding in on elephants. - Timm Perry, (Old Rebel's son) I enjoyed the role of Jungle Jim very much. It was and still is a great thrill when someone comes up to me and tells me that they used to watch or grew up with us on the show. Originally the character of Jungle Jim was dressed in a camouflaged outfit more appropriate to the Jungle Jim theme - but as time went on and I became a better actor and more comfortable in the role, l just kinda slid into a more relaxed feel with the character, and he became a more "up-to-date" personality. The name just never changed. It remained Jungle Jim. Mr. Wiglesworth became the name of the hound dog puppet originally known as Homer the hound. We picked the name Mr. Wiglesworth because we were playing to a younger audience and there wasn't anything funnier than watching a 4 or 5 year old try to say "Wiglesworth". They can't say it without smiling or laughing. - Jim Wiglesworth, Co-host Old Rebel Show
"As a young girl, growing up in Greensboro during the '50's I, like all the kids I knew, had our favorite heroes. The Old Rebel, The Lone Ranger and Superman were our heroes. Unlike them, Old Rebel was attainable! I never will forget one day I was waiting to visit my dentist, Dr Kilkelly, and none too happy about the upcoming regular exam. It was a small office and the doctor had just let out his last patient and was leading me into the examination room. "Suddenly, the hall door opened and in rushed the Old Rebel...in full costume! I was aghast! My mouth literally fell open. He apologized for the interruption and asked the doctor to see him immediately as it was something of an emergency and he was due for an appearance somewhere. I gladly gave my hero my dentists' chair....after all, this is little enough to do for one's heroes. On his way out, he shook my hand and thanked me profusely. It was the best visit to a dentist I have ever had!! :-) "He will be remembered and loved as long as even one of us remains, for he lives in our hearts. We are lucky and blessed to have known him for he truly WAS a hero!" - Sincerely, Marsha Peele In the late 1960's - early 1970's, for a period of time, my brother and I appeared on the Old Rebel show on a regular basis as the Wamalu Puppeteers - I was probably around 5-6 and my brother was 9-10. We did several skits using marionettes and some homemade puppets named Bumpy & George (with the help of our mom). While I greatly enjoyed appearing on the show, we have been left out of all of the official sites. I fondly remember Mr. Perry and how kind he was to every child on the show. - Sarah Kaufman
I remember so much about the show. Mainly during the summer months when school was out. I remember how the Old Rebel would bring folks on the show that recently had a Muscular Dystrophy Fair, and how he would promote the fair kits so other kids could organize an event. If I'm not mistaken, the fairs brought in a lot of money for MD research. I remember the shows that promoted Tweetsie Railroad, and the Land of Oz - hey, we went to these places BECAUSE they were on the Old Rebel Show. One of my friends at the time lived in Greensboro and his father was a photographer with WFMY - thus he was always on the show. We watched that show each day in hopes of seeing him just to say we knew someone who had been on TV! Go figure kids! - Kevin Squires I guess I was about 5 years old when I watched and loved The Old Rebel Show. My mom had enrolled me in dance classes with Mrs. Johnson, who eventually moved her studio to her house out on Liberty road. I had the opportunity to "perform" on the show with another little girl, and it was magical! We did a ballet and were representing candy canes, because our recital that year had the Candyman theme (Sammy Davis Jr.'s song was really popular then-'72 or '73). I still have that tiny little red and white costume with it's red tutu. - Holdenbla  George
Perry had a great sense of humor and learned very early in life, he used
to say, "not to take one's self too serious." I think George fancied himself
a thinker. He was more prone to listen to others than stake himself out
on a particular position.
A very giving person both on and off the air, George was fun-loving and enjoyed a good joke. He did enjoy working with young adults and children. He knew how to connect with them. Everyday we always had the kids in the audience walk-through the door on the set and give us their names. This we simply called the "name game". If it was a large crowd their name was about it. If it was a smaller group, often the Old Rebel would ask questions like what school, or what town were they from. We had kids from Southern Virginia to just outside of Charlotte and everywhere in between.
I have heard stories from the "old days" when the show was "live" - stories about kids telling on the boy who broke-wind when the Old Rebel asked them why they were laughing. We also had a daily "Birthday Spotlight". Children from all over the state (as well as Virginia it seemed), would send in their pictures. I can't even guess how many hundreds of these we showed over the years. Other regular features were one or two cartoons per show - and I created a feature that ran regularly for a couple of years called "FRIENDS". This was a segment where we met kids from other parts of the country and around the world. It was a syndicated feature where we created an opening and closing and then inserted the "feature" with other kids.
We had John-Boy from 'The Waltons' series on one day as a guest. I think it was the character Jason on 'The Waltons' that played the guitar - he played and sang with us on the show. Jim Fowler of 'Wild Kingdom' was on a time or two when in the area, as well as countless clowns, Muppets and other characters when the circus or the Ice Capades came to town. We had promotional visits from Mickey & Goofy, several of the dwarfs, Donald Duck, Snow White, Dorothy and the Scarecrow, Rodeo Cowboys, police officers, and on and on. Possibly the worst "golfer" I've ever know, George truly loved the sport. He and I and his son Tim played golf on a fairly regular basis. - Jim Wiglesworth, Co-host Old Rebel Show As a young child I didn't get to do much. My father died when I was two years old. My mom and I moved from High Point to Greensboro when I was 5 years old. I used to go to the YMCA and every week we would go down to WFMY and be on the Old Rebel Show. My mom and I didn't have much, but, when I realized we were going on the Old Rebel Show I knew it was the best thing going. I can remember drinking cokes and eating whoppers and laughing hysterically at the puppets and actors. I'm glad this site is here, I really am glad to share memories about someone and something that was really great. Thanks for the memories and for all the fun. The show symbolized everything that was good about this area. The kids and Mr Perry, we never realized how good we had it. I wish there was someone now who I could take my child to. Thanks for the memories Mr Perry, and thanks for the fun. - David Smith, An old buckaroo My first job in media was television cameraman for the Old Rebel Show in 1974. It was this experience that influenced the path that I would follow for the rest of my career. Working behind that huge studio camera and literally grabbing shots at "fractions" seconds was very exciting to me. And, it was a very comfortable environment - it was as if I belonged there on that set with smiling Old Rebel and all those happy kids. Believe me, it was happy times! What people outside of the media production world do not know is how fast paced the "live" shows tend to be. In the smaller market television stations, if you have the talent, it tends to be used to its fullest. A wonderful world of playtime opened up before my very eyes on that first day as cameraman for the Old Rebel Show. Very soon afterwards my talents were also used for floor directing, set designing and I even tried my hand at technical directing for the Afternoon News before leaving in 1978. I've gone on to have a wonderful career with the U.S. Postal Service writing and producing corporate videos, directing cable television programming for training, and working as a public relations representative. Within the past few years, I've taken on an Assistant Professor position with Webster University in St. Louis MO, teaching Media Production Management - and you'd better believe - I tell all my students how my career started with the Old Rebel Show. - Michael J. Stancil Dear Timm Perry; I just wanted to let you know that for years I wished that I could find out how to get in touch with someone regarding the show. I know your dad would be very proud of you for the way that you honor him in his memory of this show and his life . My name then in 1971 was Ricky Cunningham , I was a foster child living with Mr. & Mrs. Blaine Cunningham , my real name is Ricky Delk , I was never adopted . For 2 years I had the great opportunity to be able to play guitar and sing on the Old Rebel Show , I didn't know at that time what a great opportunity it was. Your dad would always let me come in the dressing room with him and let me watch him put his mustache on and his outfit , I remember the first time he took me back he told me to pull his mustache and it came off , I thought that was sooo funny . I have to admit though in the standards of pay I think I may have been short changed . Ha Ha, just kidding, he would always pay me for coming and singing with chocolate whoppers and tickets to the Lakeside Amusement Park. I miss those times in my own life, I looked up to your dad you see as a child, he was great and I miss him too. God Bless you and your family, stay the course my friend. - Ricky Cunningham Delk
Several times WFMY dropped hints that it might cancel the 'Old Rebel Show', but the outcry from the community was tremendous. In 1976, the morning television ratings war was really starting to heat up. The 'Today Show' was a long-running winner for NBC and 'Good Morning America' on ABC was just beginning to draw some respectable numbers - but WFMY's 'Good Morning Show' was the local morning ratings champ (and big profit center) for the station. In the fall of 1976, WFMY decided that the public needed more than the two hours of the 'Good Morning' show it had been offering for two decades at 6am. A new series was scheduled at 8am called 'Good Morning Times Two' featuring Lee Kinard and Sandra Hughes. This move bumped 'Captain Kangaroo' to 9am - with the 'Old Rebel' rescheduled for Saturday mornings at seven, now expanded to an hour format. Of course, no one is up to watch the show at that early hour - research from 1976 indicates the audience at 7am on Saturdays would consist primarily of two and three year-olds. 'Good Morning Times Two' was cancelled after only a year and Captain Kangaroo was returned to 8am. - Billy Ingram I did receive a little compensation for doing this show, but it was minimal. I did the 'Old Rebel' show for all those years because l liked doing it. l liked the "purpose", making kids happy (man does this sound sappy... but it's true). I was a full-time producer/director for the station and my responsibilities were to write and produce television commercials and direct the 11 o'clock news. From the station's standpoint, my relationship with George and the Old Rebel Show was my own personal labor of love. - Jim Wiglesworth, Co-host Old Rebel Show As a kid growing up in Winston-Salem during the 1950's and early 1960's, I was lucky to be able to have a TV set that could receive all of the major children shows in the region, including Fred Kirby, Joey the Clown, Old Rebel, and Bob Gordon. I remember going to Miller Park one weekend to see Rebel and Pecos Pete in person. What a thrill! Little did I know that years later, Rebel would help me get my start in television. I began my career in commercial television at WFMY on the Old Rebel Show. At first it was my job to run camera and mop up under the bleachers after the show. The latter was extremely important because during every program we had about 80 to 100 screaming kids in attendance, and each of them was given milk or juice to drink. When they got very excited, fluids were spilled under the bleachers, including bodily ones ! Any way, it was a treat to watch George Perry work. His easy style on and off camera made him a favorite with kids and adults, and he was the perfect straightman for puppets and sidekicks. I went on to do Weather at WFMY and left in 1978 to work at WSOC in Charlotte. There, I volunteered to produce and host local segments of the syndicated KIDSWORLD series, and I created the caustic character Jim Nasium. Nasium taught physical fitness to kids, but he was surly and quite inept. Kids learned by NOT doing what Nasium did. Every time I donned my fake mustache and costume, I thought of Rebel, and Joey the Clown, and of how important it was to carry on the kids show genre. Shortly thereafter I started a TV production business and, to this day, I still produce and host public affairs programs - not for kids, but for adults. Currently I host Triad Today on WXLV (ABC) and WUPN in Winston-Salem. George Perry was a great broadcaster, and he was committed to providing quality local programs to his audience. Were he alive today, he would be hurt to know that none of our TV stations have continued with the work he started. Shame on us for abdicating our responsibility to children in favor of syndicated programming. Television airwaves belong to the public, so TV should be about public service not just profits. Perhaps the Old Rebel will be reincarnated as a TV station manager, and he will resurrect a kids show. We can only hope. - Jim Longworth - Pres., Longworth Productions
NEXT: Other Local NC Shows: Bob Gordon Theatre The
Kiddie Scene
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Dedicated to (Lonesome) Lee Marshall from WFMY's The Old Rebel Show who passed away on Saturday, July 3rd, 2004 at the age of 89.
Jim Wiglesworth provided us with these classic video moments from The Old Rebel Show during the Seventies. The theme song from the Seventies, written and sung by Jim Wiglesworth. The Name Game - The Old Rebel greets each youngster while seated in his familiar rocking chair. Humphrey, The Old Rebel and Lonesome Lee talk to Shannon Wiglesworth (sister of Survivor Kelly Wiglesworth). The Old Rebel paints of picture of Jungle Jim. This is a great look at the Old Rebel in the 70s - and check out all of the kids in the audience! Retrospective of scenes from The Old Rebel Show and other WFMY shows created by Jim Wiglesworth and broadcast as part of the CBS network fall campaign 'Part Of Your Life' circa 1974.
No Calmer Waters Than These! My dad had a friendly, gentle, outgoing nature, and no matter how tough the neighborhood, how rough the person, folks seemed becalmed by his presence. Once, President Richard Nixon made a splashy visit to the old Greensboro Airport and people turned out en masse to see him, out of curiosity, affection or animosity. Vietnam and Watergate were soaring toward a crescendo of feverish tension, turmoil and trouble - and opinions on the subject were often vocalized with loudness and conviction. My family walked onto the tarmac to view Air Force One's arrival, we found ourselves standing beside a group of angry, vociferous, red-faced antiwar protesters. They shouted and shook their fists as if they were preparing to storm the Bastille. Suddenly
one of the protesters saw my dad and announced, "Hey, there's the Old
Rebel!" It was quite amazing to witness how sweet and peaceful these folks became when Old Rebel greeted them kindly and signed autographs. - Timm Perry
I began working at WFMY in 1967 when I was a senior in high school. l worked the second shift, 2:45pm to 12 midnight at the station. This shift included the taping of the Old Rebel Show each day at 4pm (shown the following morning at 9am). Additionally this shift included production of the 6 and 11 o'clock news programs as well as numerous commercial sessions. When I first began working as a member of the Old Rebel production crew my daily duties consisted of helping light the set, running the television cameras, bringing the kids into the studio and getting the mothers stationed upstairs in the viewing gallery. Also during the commercial and/or cartoon breaks I would get refreshments for our audience. We would have anywhere between 20 and 200 kids attend the show daily. At that time (1968) the 'Old Rebel Show' had a fellow (George Leh, pronounced lay) doing two puppets on the show for him. The puppets were Marvin the Mule and Homer the Hound. George was a full-time director for the station and did this as sideline to help out the Old Rebel (George Perry). Sometime during that year George Leah left for a position with a station in Flint, Michigan - leaving the Old Rebel without any regular puppets or side- kick. This was an opportunity waiting to happen for me. l remember sitting down one day with George Perry and telling him I would love to fill in and try to develop these puppets. We quickly agreed "why not give it a shot". My immediate supervisor was able to bring in another production crew member to cover my behind-the- scene duties while I jumped in front of the cameras. The rest is history.... well not quite. Marvin the Mule went into retirement and Homer the Hound forever after became known as "MR. Wiglesworth." Over the next few months I created several more puppet characters. There was Humphrey, a grumpy ole character who pretended to hate kids and love pickles. Deep down he did love pickles and probably did like kids as well. Later came Charlie, a more mellow character who played well off Humphrey. While all of this was going on, I was attending High Point College (now a University) during the morning as well. The Old Rebel pretty much gave me full reign in coming up each day with the opening skit and about anything else I wanted to do with the show. He would give me a broad outline of any special guest or events we needed to work into the shows that week and I would take it from there. I would sit in many of my college classes and sketch out the day's program. l would hit the station around 2: 30 each afternoon and have a brief meeting with George and then I would get with our director (Jack Hilliard) and lay out the show for him and explain how the opening "bit" was to go. After doing the puppets for about 6 months, I created "JUNGLE JIM" - this was me in the flesh. Now we had the ability to do one- on-one standby comedy. I could also fill in for the Old Rebel when he need a few days off, or go do speaking engagements without my puppets. After the show I would switch gears and go back to working on the 6 & 11 o'clock news programs. By now I had been promoted to a "directorship" and was now "directing" the 11 o'clock news each night. I continued to produce and write the program until l left in 1977, approximately 6 months before the 'Old Rebel' show went off the air. From a production stand point there were a great many people involved on many different levels. On a daily basis there was the immediate studio production crew consisting of three camera persons, a floor director, and audio person, the director, two or three engineers, one projectionist to "roll those cartoons" and more often than not an intern to assist in getting the kids to the studio and the parents into the viewing gallery. They also helped get refreshments to the kids. Beyond the immediately staff (not counting me, the Old Rebel and other show characters), there was the sales staff who were out there trying to sell the program to advertisers, folks in the promotional department that regularly promoted the show and several other station employees in the art department that created promotional flyers. As far as a budget.. ??????? We never had what you might call a set budget figure. It was a fairly inexpensive show to produce, not counting salaries. We updated the set every couple of years or so and a great many of the props we would use on the show were in the general prop room, used on any number of programs.
FEATURED ON THE OLD REBEL SHOW: 
The mid-sixties' series of live action/ animated Three Stooges TV short subjects.
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"I
have lots of memories of watching the Old Rebel Show! My most memorial
time was when I was 5 years old. I sent in a colored drawing of a man
( I can't remember his name) that was going to choose the best drawing
of him and paint a portrait of that child as the grand prize.
As
far as funny stories go - they range from kids fighting in line to falling
down to crying babies to those who felt the only way they could be heard
was to scream their name at the top of their voice into the microphone.
Being a tape delayed program we could stop production if needed so these
events usually were not seen the next day.
Interesting
guests - they ranged (during my tenure) from Loretta Swit (MASH 4077th)
to Victor the Wrestling Bear (I got to face off with him on the show),
to Frazier, the World's largest Lion. Old Rebel thought I should be
the one to go into the cage with Frazier while he watched from outside
the cage.
In
the mid-Seventies talk shows were big in the afternoons, just as they
are again today. Granted, the shows were a LOT tamer then. They were
so popular that in 1975 WFMY had their own locally produced talk show
running at 1:00 in the afternoon called 'Sandra and Friends', featuring
a bright, young (and extremely talented) host named Sandra Hughes.
As
far as the station moving the show's time slot - it had little, if any,
direct effect on me personally except for the fact that I had only one
show to do a week instead of five.
 You are welcome to share your memories of 'The Old Rebel Show' for inclusion on the site! |
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