Due to his joke telling skills he was also nicknamed the Thief of Bad Gags, firstly by Dave Lanning.
The son of a Northumberland miner, he attended King Edward VI School,[2] Morpeth, and went on to obtain a scholarship to St John's College, Cambridge,[3] where he graduated with an upper second degree in Modern History.
He joined the Social Studies Department at Durham University and assisted the Professors of Politics and Economics in writing their books.
He toyed with the idea of writing a book on trade unions but settled for folk singing in a duo with Charles E. Hall called the Gravyboatmen.
Waddell was an observer at Alexandra Palace during the 1972 News of the World Championship and was particularly impressed with the play and character of the eventual finalist, Welshman Alan Evans, who beat reigning champion Dennis Filkins in the semi-finals with a fiery display.
During his time with the BBC, Waddell penned ten episodes of a successful children's television series, Jossy's Giants in 1986.
He worked on the Russell Harty Show, and in 1993 did a series for Tyne Tees Television called Waddell's World in which he was a butler to a posh Tweeddale family, a caravanner and on the dole.
The first darts tournament he commentated on for Sky Sports was the 1994 World Matchplay at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool, in August 1994.
Despite this diagnosis and undergoing treatment, he managed to come back to the darts commentary box in the spring of 2012 during some Premier League nights.
This interview was aired on Sky Sports on 16 August 2012, five days after his death, as a tribute entitled: Sid Waddell – A Life in His Own Words.
He wrote eleven published books, including biographies of John Lowe, Jocky Wilson and Phil Taylor.
[9] Waddell died of bowel cancer on 11 August 2012, the day after his 72nd birthday, in Harrogate, North Yorkshire.