Wolfman Jack was a legendary DJ who rose to prominence during the 1960s as one of the world’s
first “shock jocks”. While Wolfman Jack wasn’t nearly as controversial during his radio days
as later shock jocks, such as Howard Stern, would be, he still knew how to titillate the listening
audience! With his rock and roll programming and trademark wolf howl, Wolfman Jack became an iconic
figure on the radio before being immortalized on the screen with his performance as a fictionalized
version of himself in George Lucas’ nostalgic 1970s masterpiece American Graffiti. Today,
the Wolfman is sadly no longer with us, and those who wish to pay their respects to the celebrated
figure by visiting his grave are going to have a hard time doing so thanks to its private location.
Join Facts Verse as we explore why Wolfman Jack’s grave is a depressing sight for fans.
Many celebrities get big open graves that fans can visit in order to pay respects to their late
idols. Sadly, this wasn’t the case for legendary DJ Wolfman Jack. Instead, upon the Wolfman’s
passing in 1995, the legendary DJ was buried in the front yard of his home in North Carolina.
Prior to his death, Wolfman Jack shared the home with his wife. That wife was Lou Smith, whom the
Wolfman had been married to since 1961. Wolfman Jack broke out into prominence around the time
of his marriage, with the DJ going on to become arguably the most iconic of the ensuing decade.
Wolfman Jack is far from being the only celebrity figure to have been buried in the state of North
Carolina. Other celebrities that have been buried in the beautiful state include Andy Griffith,
Ava Gardner, Reverend Billy Graham, and Andre the Giant. However, Wolfman may be the celebrity
figure who has the least open North Carolina grave, with the majority of the other figures all
having easy locations for fans to visit and pay their respects at. Though fans may be upset about
the lack of ceremony surrounding the Wolfman’s grave, it’s what the public figure wanted!
Although Wolfman Jack loved sharing his iconic voice and visage with fans during his lifetime,
what he truly cared about was his personal life with his family on his North Carolina property.
Although the grave of Wolfman Jack isn’t open to the public, it’s still a loving tribute to
the celebrity DJ who entertained audiences for so many years. The headstone itself is adorned with a
variety of the DJ’s most memorable phrases. Those who wish to pay their respects to Wolfman Jack
can do so from the road, with his grave being located near the Perquimans River. However,
if visitors truly wish to be respectful of the late legend, they’ll keep off his property!
While fans may not be able to get right up close and personal with Wolfman Jack’s grave,
they can get acquainted with the legendary DJ’s life story! Wolfman Jack was born in 1938, and he
first became interested in the prospect of radio broadcasting when his father bought him his very
own Trans-Oceanic radio. Given that Wolfman’s parents separated when he was still young,
this radio provided him a healthy outlet for his
emotions, and would eventually go on to provide him with a career!
It was the Trans-Oceanic radio from his father that provided young Wolfman Jack
with his very first radio experience, and he would go on to become one of the most
successful DJs of the 1960s! Anyone who was a teenager during the decade likely knows the
name of Wolfman Jack from his days as a radio DJ, even if many subsequent generations only
know the icon from his performance in George Lucas’ nostalgic 1970s film American Graffiti.
Wolfman Jack wasn’t born with his iconic name but was rather born Robert Weston Smith.
Young Robert knew that, if he wanted to break out into the competitive world of radio,
he was going to need a better name. It was because of this that the name Wolfman Jack was born.
Alongside his new name, young Robert also came up with the idea of howling like a wolf
as his radio signature. With his new name and his new gimmick, Wolfman Jack took the world by storm
over the course of the 1960s. If you’re enjoying this video so far,
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With his iconic name and howl, Wolfman Jack broke onto the radio scene in the
early 1960s and started catching the attention of the public in a big way. In addition to his
name and his gimmick, the Wolfman also had an edgy attitude that truly stuck out in the
days when he first came on the air. In many respects, Wolfman Jack has come to be seen
as one of the very first “shock jocks”, with him paving the way for subsequent (and far
more controversial) shock jocks, such as Howard Stern, in the future. While the standards of
the day didn’t allow Wolfman Jack to get away with very much risqué behavior on the airwaves,
he still had a generally adult demeanor that appealed to the increasingly radical youth
of the time. To many, Wolfman Jack became a venerated symbol of early 1960s counterculture.
Some examples of Wolfman Jack’s risqué humor included when he would suggest to audiences
listening to his program in the privacy of their homes to get naked while doing so,
as well as when he would instruct them to “play with his knobs” by adjusting the dials
on their radio. With his winning personality and risqué humor, it was no surprise when
Wolfman Jack became one of the most popular DJs of the 1960s. Despite the mainstream
success that he would go on to receive, Wolfman Jack first rose to notoriety thanks to his work
on the radio station XERF-AM, which was broadcast from Mexico. The standards at the time were more
lenient on programs being broadcast out of Mexico than they were ones that were being broadcast
out of America, which allowed the Wolfman to be a bit more experimental.
Although it was technically a Mexican radio station that Wolfman Jack was being broadcast
from, the signal was so strong that it could be picked up all the way across America. During the
height of Wolfman Jack’s popularity on XERF-AM, it was said that American drivers could travel
all the way from California to New York without ever losing the signal. In fact, there were even
times during the day when it was said that the signal could be picked up in parts of Europe!
The immense power of the radio signal being broadcast from Mexico on XERF-AM allowed
Wolfman Jack to pick up a massive following. This following only grew even bigger when
Wolfman Jack made a revolutionary deal with the government of the United States
to have his radio programs be syndicated to troops across the world. This deal was made via
Armed Forces Network. As a result, Wolfman Jack’s radio programs helped
entertain American troops during the Vietnam War. While this may have hurt Wolfman’s image
as a figure in the counterculture of the time, it greatly increased his mainstream notoriety.
At the peak of Wolfman Jack’s radio career, it has been said that the legendary DJ was being
broadcast on an excess of 2,000 radio stations, with his global range spanning more than 50
countries. From his decidedly modest origins as a shock jock DJ operating out of Mexico,
Wolfman Jack found himself a full-blown legend entering into the 1970s.
With Wolfman Jack having completely taken over the radio over the course of the 1960s,
he set his sights on the screen in the 1970s. In 1973, Wolfman Jack became immortalized thanks to
his performance as a fictionalized version of himself in the 1973 film American Graffiti.
The nostalgic film took place in the early 1960s and was directed by George Lucas,
who had listened to Wolfman Jack on the radio for years. Following Wolfman Jack’s successful
immortalization on film via American Graffiti, he could be seen on the television programs
Married… with Children and Ship Happens over the course of the ensuing decades.
After nearly six decades of life, Wolfman Jack passed away in 1995, at the age of 57.
The legendary DJ’s cause of death was said to have been a heart attack, and his wife and
two children survived him. The Wolman’s death occurred exactly a month after the release of
his autobiography, which was titled Have Mercy: Confessions of the Original Rock and Roll Animal.
A year after the legendary DJ’s passing, he was posthumously inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame.
Daughter Joy Rene Smith ended up following in her father’s footsteps by becoming a DJ
herself, with her taking on the name “Joy Jack” as a tribute to her father. Sadly,
Joy passed away only a few years after her father, with her dying in
a car crash three years after her father’s death. Following her passing, she was buried
alongside her father on the late Wolfman’s aforementioned property in North Carolina.
Thanks to Wolfman’s performance as a fictionalized version of himself in the film American Graffiti,
new generations will continue to get the opportunity to learn about Wolfman
Jack and all that he did for the radio. However, it’s unlikely that fans will get
the opportunity to pay their respects at the late icon’s grave any time in the near future.
Although the late Wolfman Jack remains one of the most celebrated figures in all of radio history
thanks to his time as a shock rock DJ during the 1960s and beyond, the private nature of
the late DJ’s gravesite means that fans have a hard time paying their respects. Now it’s time
to hear from you: did you know that Wolfman Jack is routinely considered to be one of
the first “shock jocks” in the history of radio broadcasting and that his program was syndicated
to American troops during the Vietnam War? As always, like this video
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