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John Zacherle (later known as John Zacherley) was born September 26, 1918 in Philadelphia, PA, the youngest of four children. He went to high school in the Germantown area, then enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania, receiving a Bachelor's Degree. During World War II, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as a quartermaster in North Africa and Europe, and after the war he returned to Philadelphia, joining a local repertory theater company.
In 1954, he appeared as an actor at WCAU-TV in the western "Action in the Afternoon," playing several roles (including an undertaker). It was produced by the station and aired in the New York City market. Three years later, he was hired as the host of WCAU's "Shock Theater," which debuted on October 7, 1957. As the host, Zacherle appeared as the character Roland (pronounced Ro-LAND), wearing a long black undertaker's coat and who lived with his wife (known as "My Dear") and his lab assistant, Igor. It involved numerous stylized horror-comedy gags that have since become a standard to countless horror film hosts. In the opening sequence, Zacherle would descend a long staircase to the crypt. The producers erred on the side of goriness, showing fake severed heads with chocolate syrup blood. The show sometimes featured live "cut-ins" during the movie, in which the soundtrack continued to play on the air, while the visual feed switched briefly to a shot of Zacherle in the middle of a humorous stunt, such as riding a tombstone. The show ran for 92 broadcasts until 1958.
He was a close colleague of "American Bandstand" host Dick Clark, and he sometimes filled in on road touring shows of "Bandstand" in the 1960s. Dick reportedly gave Zacherle the nickname of "The Cool Ghoul," and in 1958, partly with the assistance of Clark, he recorded "Dinner with Drac" for Cameo Records, backed by Dave Appell. At first, it was thought that the recording was too gory to play on "Bandstand," and Zacherle returned to the studio to cut a second, tamer version. Eventually, both versions was released simultaneously as backsides of the same 45rpm record, and it broke the top ten nationally. Zacherle later released several LPs mixing horror sound effects with novelty songs.
In 1958, CBS purchased WCAU-TV, which prompted Zacherle to leave Philadelphia for WABC-TV in New York. He continued in the same format as "Shock Theater," but the studio added a "y" to the end of his name (to help with pronunciation), and in March 1958, they changed the title to "Zacherley at Large." His Roland character became Zacherley and "My Dear" became Isobel. He also began appearing in motion pictures, including "Key to Murder" (1958), alongside several of his "Action in the Afternoon" colleagues.
In 1960, Zacherley moved to WOR-TV, and in a promotional gimmick, he staged a presidential campaign. His "plaform" recording can be found on the album "Spook Along with Zacherley" (1960), which originally included a "Zacherley for President" book and poster set, which is highly collectible today. He's the only horror host to appear on the cover of "Famous Monsters of Filmland" twice.
In 1963, he was the first host/performer of WPIX-TV, Channel 11, New York City, hosting "Chiller Theater," "The Mighty Hercules Cartoon Show" (seen weekday evenings from September to November, 1963), and "The Three Stooges Show" until January of 1964. He then moved to WNJU-TV in Newark and hosted a teenage dance show called "Disc-O-Teen," appearing in full costume and using the teenage participants in his skits, attracting bands like The Lovin' Spoonful, The Young Rascals and The Doors (Zacherle recalls, "Jim Morrison looked at our weird set and mumbled, 'This is the damnedest TV show I've ever seen.'") He was a morning radio host for WNEW-FM in 1967, and two years later he became the station night broadcaster (10pm-2am) with a progressive rock format. The success of the show led to the use of the same format in Philadelphia.
As "Zacherley," he hosted several rock concerts in New York City's Central Park in the 60's and 70's. On February 14, 1970, he appeared at Fillmore East music hall in New York to introduce The Grateful Dead, and his introduction of the band can be heard on their album "Dick's Picks - Volume 4." In 1971, he switched his show to WPLJ-FM in New York, where he stayed for ten years.
In the early 1980's, he played a wizard on Captain Kangaroo, appearing without his costume and makeup. He continued to perform in character at Halloween broadcasts in the New York and Philadelphia areas throughout the 80's and 90's, and once narrated Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" which was backed up by the Philadelphia Orchestra. In 1986, he hosted a direct-to-video program called "Horrible Horror," where he performed monologues between clips from public domain sci-fi and horror films.
In 1988, he struck up a friendship with B-movie horror director Frank Henenlotter, and voiced one of the lead characters in his horror comedy "Brain Damage," playing Aylmar, a slug-like, drug-dealing, brain-eating parasite. He also a cameo in Henelotter's "Frankenhooker," appropriately playing a TV weatherman who specializes in forecasts for mad scientists.
In late 1992, Zacherley joined the staff of "K-Rock," WXRK-FM, at a time when the roster included other free-form luminaries as Vin Scelsa (with whom he'd worked at WPLJ) and Meg Griffin. However, in January of 1996, the station switched to an alternative rock format and hired all new disc jockeys.
He was inducted into the Horror Host Hall of Fame in 2011, and has lived in a one-bedroom, rent-controlled apartment in Manhattan for the past 50 years.
