Cody was born on September 4, 1936 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He was the only son of Wendel Wayne Cody (1904–1985), a Vaudeville musician and radio broadcaster and Ethel (Sack) Cody (1895–1957), a Vaudeville musician and actress on Broadway. The family moved to Philadelphia shortly after Cody's birth. He often described his early childhood as being very lonely and sheltered, a situation compounded by his obesity. At a young age he would appear on his father's radio program (The Uncle Wip Show). Cody's Father and Mother divorced when he was 12 and his father remarried and moved the family to Salt Lake City, Utah. Cody attended East High School where he was an average student but enjoyed music and drama class. At age 16, Cody decided to pursue a career in radio and acting. After graduation, he began his career working in the mailroom at KNEB, an AM radio station in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Almost immediately, he was asked to fill in for the vacationing weatherman, and within a few months he was announcing station breaks. He also had a stint in Kokomo, In. at WIOU radio as sports voice of the Kokomo HS Wildkats.