John Zacherle died, having just turned 98,
on Thursday, October 27, a few days short of Halloween, a holiday he
essentially personified.
First as Roland out of Philadelphia, and more famously as Zacherley, the Cool Ghoul, in New York,
he was a pioneering TV Horror Host. He was among those who introduced the
Universal Classics to the first generation of Monster Kids. He was a revelator
and, through the years, he remained a touchstone, a direct link back to one’s
own adolescence and our love of monsters. For those of us who never had the privilege
of seeing him as a TV Host, we learned about him from Famous Monsters magazine and his horror-themed novelty records. Right
to the end, he was proud of his accomplishments and still wore his long
undertaker’s coat to convention appearances.
Zacherle had not seen the 1931 FRANKENSTEIN
until he introduced the film on his show. He would go on to present most of the
Universal Frankensteins over the years, and he would go on to a cameo as a TV weatherman
in a Frankenstein film, Frank Henenlotter’ FRANKENHOOKER (1990).
To understand Zacherley’s impact and
enduring importance, I urge you to read David Colton’s touching tribute on the Classic Horror Film
Board.
See Zacherley in action on YouTube.
Here is an obituary from The New York Times.
3 comments:
A very talented man, in Radio as well as TV. And a gracious, gentle gem of a man as well - as just about anyone blessed to have met him will testify.
Rest to him, after a good, long life.
-Craig
I will use your link I guess. Check this https://essaydragon.com/blog/write-essay-tips site now. You will find me there.
Read more about how to track a cell phone location for free with just using the number of the cell phone of the target user. You will receive the location accurately by satellite tracking so it is real time. And this feature has not yet been known by many. I have just use this to exploit in tracking my girlfriend. I know it's bad but put a rest on my mind.
Post a Comment