Trivia

He passed away almost immediately after returning home from a promotional tour for his autobiography "Have Mercy". He entered his house, hugged his wife, said "Oh, it is so good to be home!" and literally passed away in his wife's arms.

A final tribute show aired one week after Wolfman Jack's sudden death on over 100 radio stations.

Wolfman Jack was an ordained minister in the Universal Life Church, where he was officially known as and nicknamed "Reverend Jack".

"Wolfman Jack" was posthumously inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame (1996).

He was a fan of disc jockey Alan Freed who helped to turn African-American rhythm and blues into Caucasian rock and roll music. Freed originally called himself the Moondog after New York City street musician Moondog. Freed both adopted this name and used a recorded howl to give his early broadcasts a unique character. The Wolfman's adaptation of the Moondog theme was to call himself Wolfman Jack and add his own sound effects. The character was based in part on the manner and style of bluesman Howling Wolf. He created the nickname Wolfman Jack and attempted to mask his true identity to create public interest in his radio character.

Began his career in 1960 at WYOU-AM in Newport News, Virginia, and later moved to KCIJ-AM in Shreveport, Louisiana, where he first came up with the character Wolfman Jack.

He is referred to in the songs, "Ramble on Rose" by Grateful Dead, "Clap for the Wolfman" by The Guess Who, and "Wolfman Jack" by Todd Rundgren.

For the last two years of his life, Wolfman Jack did a live weekly show from WXTR-FM in Washington, D.C., which was carried on 50 affiliate stations around the United States.

Wolfman Jack worked as a disc jockey from 1964 to 1966 for the (then) 250,000 watt radio station XERF (1570 AM) in Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, Mexico, just across the river from Del Rio, Texas, which is among borders of Texas and Mexico.

Once appeared in a television commercial for Clearasil skin care and acne medication.

He made his final syndicated radio broadcast from a Planet Hollywood restaurant in Washington, D.C., on Friday Night, June 30, 1995.

Hit #106 on the Billboard Singles Charts with "I Ain't Never Seen a White Man" (Wooden Nickel 0108) (1972).

He was the son of Mabel Rosamond (Small) and Anson Weston Smith. His father was an Episcopalian Sunday school teacher, writer, and editor. Wolfman's paternal grandmother was born in England, and he also had considerable ancestry in Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire, dating back to Colonial America.

Following his sudden death, he was interred at Smith Family Estate Cemetery in Belvidere, North Carolina.

Survived by his wife one daughter, Joy Renne Smith, one son, Todd Weston Smith, a granddaughter.