FANTASTIC THEATRE

JACK MCKENNA - "PROFESSOR FANTASTIC"
? - "IGOR"



"Fantastic Theatre" was a hosted horror movie show with Jack McKenna as "Professor Fantastic" presenting movies on WDIO, Channel 10 Duluth, Minnesota from 1966 till 1967 or so.

Professor Fantastic spoke in a Karloff-like accent, wore a white lab coat, mustache, tousled hair and glasses, and performed a humorous experiment each week during the movie, assisted by his assistant Igor, unseen except for a shadow on the wall.

McKenna was born 13 August 1923 and grew up in Duluth, Minnesota. He served in the US Air Force during World War II, working as a meteorologist. When he returned to Duluth in 1946, he began his broadcast career at WDSM radio in Superior, Wisconsin. When WDSM-TV launched in 1954, McKenna was the lead weatherman. 1962 found him in the Twin Cities, as Sgt. Scotty, on WTCN-TV. In the mid-sixties, he returned to Duluth on WDIO-TV. In the seventies, he broadcast weather in San Francisco, Denver, Tucson, and Houston. He returned to KBJR in Duluth in the eighties. Following his retirement, McKenna continued to work in radio, hosting "Radio Superior" on KUWS-FM. Jack McKenna passed away on 8 December 2013.


There are no known clips or photographs from the show.

LINKS


Internet Movie Data Base
"Fantastic Theatre"

Internet Movie Data Base
"Jack McKenna"

E-gors Chamber of TV Horror Hosts
"Professor Fantastic"


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Last modified: March 2023