Doyle Rodgers

News Obituary Article

SMYRNA: Doyle Rodgers, known as 'Wolfman' in TV ads

By SAEED AHMED

Doyle Rodgers, the white-haired, full-bearded furniture salesman better known to Atlanta television audiences as the "Wolfman," died Wednesday. He was 67.

Mr. Rodgers never quite recovered from a heart attack he suffered at his Smyrna home two weeks ago, said his daughter Donna Anderson. He died at 5:15 p.m. at WellStar Cobb Hospital.

"He went out his own way," Ms. Anderson said Thursday night. "When he knew he was not going to get any better, he asked that they remove him from everything and put him in a private room."

After serving a stint in the Army and later earning a law degree, Mr. Rodgers bought the Gallery Furniture store in his 40s. An advertising representative said the hirsute Rodgers kind of looked like the Wolfman. And Mr. Rodgers ran with the idea.

For 26 years, Mr. Rodgers' bare-bones spots for his stores in College Park and Gainesville peered into Atlanta living rooms as many as 20 times a day. Audiences drew comfort in Mr. Rodgers' deliberately stilted screen presence and the catchphrase that ended each homespun ad: "And, hey, ask for the Wolfman."

The schtick worked.

Daughter Anderson, who started appearing in the ads as a teenager 21 years ago, said when customers come to the business, "90 percent of the time they ask for the Wolfman."

Mr. Rodgers is also survived by his wife of 48 years, Betty; three other children, Steve Rodgers, Jeff Rodgers and Nancy Smith, all involved in the family business; and five grandchildren. His body was cremated Thursday. A memorial service will be held at Sharon Baptist Church at 11 a.m. Saturday.

© 2004 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution