HEARTSTOPPERS:
HORROR AT THE MOVIES

GEORGE HAMILTON
JOHN KASSIR - "ANNOUNCER"
CASSANDRA PETTERSON - "ELVIRA"
KEVIN WEST - "EDDIE, THE GHOUL"

"Heartstoppers: Horror at the Movies" was a 1992 television special on horror and science fiction movies from the past up to the 1990s. Hosted by George Hamilton, who delves into horror and science fiction subjects including: vampires makeup and special effects low budget B-movies from the 1950s to the 1990s comedy and horror women in horror. It also has tributes to Forrest J Ackerman, "The Night of the Living Dead", and as well as an "ingredients of horror" segment presented by Cassandra Peterson as "Elvira", assisted by Kevin West as "Eddie, The Ghoul"; and finally a trivia quiz. The announcer was John Kassir, well known as the voice of "The Crypt Keeper". GEORGE HAMILTON From IMDB: George Stevens Hamilton was born on 12 August 1939 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA; the son of gregarious Southern belle beauty Anne Lucille (Stevens) Potter Hamilton Hunt Spaulding, and her husband (of four), George William "Spike" Hamilton, a touring bandleader. George Hamilton is noted for his dashing, sporting, jet-setting playboy image and perpetually bronzed skin tones in commercials, film spoofs and reality shows. George Hamilton was, at the onset, a serious contender for dramatic film stardom. Moving extensively as a youth due to his father's work (Arkansas, Massachusetts, New York, California), young George got a taste of acting in plays while attending Palm Beach High School. With his exceedingly handsome looks and attractive personality, he took a bold chance and moved to Los Angeles in the late 1950s. MGM (towards the end of the contract system) saw in George a budding talent with photogenic appeal. It wasted no time putting him in films following some guest appearances on television. His first film, a lead in "Crime & Punishment", USA (1959), was an offbeat, updated adaptation of the Fyodor Dostoevsky novel. While the film was not overwhelmingly successful, George's heartthrob appeal was obvious. He was awarded a Golden Globe for "Most Promising Newcomer" as well as being nominated for "Best Foreign Actor" by the British film Academy (BAFTA). This in turn led to an enviable series of film showcases, including the memorable Southern drama "Home from the Hill" (1960), which starred Robert Mitchum and Eleanor Parker and featured another handsome, up-and-coming George (George Peppard); "Angel Baby" (1961), in which he played an impressionable lad who meets up with evangelist Mercedes McCambridge; and "Light in the Piazza" (1962) (another BAFTA nomination), in which he portrays an Italian playboy who falls madly for American tourist Yvette Mimieux to the ever-growing concern of her mother Olivia de Havilland. Along with the good, however, came the bad and the inane, which included the dreary sudsers "All the Fine Young Cannibals" (1960) and "By Love Possessed" (1961) and the youthful spring-break romps "Where the Boys Are" (1960), which had Connie Francis warbling the title tune while slick-as-car-seat-leather George pursued coed Dolores Hart, and Looking for Love (1964), which was more of the same. Not yet undone by this mixed message of serious actor and glossy pin-up, George went on to show some real acting muscle in the offbeat casting of a number of biopics - as "Moss Hart in Act One" (1963), an overly fictionalized and sanitized account of the late playwright (the real Moss should have looked so good!), as ill-fated country star Hank Williams in "Your Cheatin' Heart" (1964), and as the famed daredevil Evel Knievel (1971). The rest of the '60s and '70s, however, rested on his fun-loving, idle-rich charm that bore a close resemblance to his off-camera image in the society pages. As the 1960s began to unfold, he started making headlines more as a handsome escort to the rich, the powerful and the beautiful than as an acclaimed actor - none more so than his 1966 squiring of President Lyndon B. Johnson's daughter Lynda Bird Johnson. He was also once engaged to actress Susan Kohner, a former co-star. Below-average films such as "Doctor, You've Got to Be Kidding!" (1967), "A Time for Killing" (1967) and "The Power" (1968) effectively ended his initially strong ascent to film stardom. From the 1970s on, George tended to be tux-prone on standard film and television comedy and drama, whether as a martini-swirling opportunist, villain or lover. A wonderful comeback for him came in the form of the disco-era Dracula spoof "Love at First Bite" (1979), which he executive-produced. Nominated for a Golden Globe as the campy neck-biter displaced and having to fend off the harsh realities of New York living, he continued on the parody road successfully with "Zorro: The Gay Blade" (1981) in the very best Mel Brooks tradition. This renewed popularity led to a one-year stint on "Dynasty" (1981) during the 1985-1986 season and a string of fun, self-mocking commercials, particularly his Ritz Cracker and (Toasted!) Wheat Thins appearances that often spoofed his overly tanned appearance. In recent times he has broken through the "reality show" ranks by hosting "The Family" (2003), which starred numerous members of a traditional Italianate family vying for a $1,000,000 prize, and participating in the second season of ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" (2005), where his charm and usual impeccable tailoring scored higher than his limberness. On the tube he can still pull off a good time, whether playing flamboyant publisher William Randolph Hearst in "Rough Riders" (1997), playing the best-looking Santa Claus ever in "Very Cool Christmas" (2004), hosting beauty pageants or making breezy gag appearances. In 1989 he started a line of skin-care products and a chain of tanning salons. Into the millennium, he has had featured roles in the "opera singer trio reunion" comedy "Off Key" (2001) also starring Joe Mantegna and Danny Aiello; the offbeat underground movie "Reflections of Evil" (2002); the comedy romps "The L.A. Riot Spectacular" (2005) and "Melvin Smarty" (2012); the political drama "The Congressman" (2016); the family dramedy "Silver Skies" (2016); and the romantic comedy "Swiped" (2018). On television, he enhanced several programs including "Nash Bridges", "Pushing Daisies", "Hot in Cleveland" and "Grace and Frankie." He also had a recurring role on the series "American Housewife" (2016). Beginning in the summer of 2016, Hamilton appeared in television commercials as the "Extra Crispy" sun-tanned version of KFC's Colonel Harland Sanders. He later played the Colonel on an episode of "General Hospital." George managed one brief marriage to actress/television personality Alana Stewart from 1972 to 1975 (she later married and divorced rock singer Rod Stewart), the pair have a son, actor Ashley Hamilton, born in 1974. Another son, George Thomas Hamilton, born in 2000, came from his involvement with Kimberly Blackford. CASSANDRA PETERSON From IMDB: Cassandra Peterson was born on 17 September 1951 in Manhattan, Kansas, USA; and grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She began her career at age 17 as the youngest showgirl in Las Vegas history in the show "Vive Les Girls" at the Dunes Hotel. After receiving advice from "The King" himself, Elvis Presley, she traveled to Europe where she pursued a career as a singer and actor. She worked in several Italian films, including Federico Fellini's Roma (1972) and performed throughout Europe as lead singer of an Italian rock band. Upon returning to the USA, she toured the country as star of her own musical-comedy show, "Mama's Boys". She eventually settled in Hollywood, where she spent four and a half years with Los Angeles' foremost improvisational comedy group, The Groundlings. In 1981, she auditioned for the role of horror hostess on a local Los Angeles television station. Her show, "Elvira's Movie Macabre" (1981), and her newly created character, Elvira, became an overnight sensation. Cassandra has used Elvira's celebrity status to bring attention to many worthy causes and organizations over the years, including her well-known work for animal welfare and raising money and awareness for the prevention of HIV/AIDS. In addition to co-writing and performing in both the local Los Angeles and nationally syndicated television versions of "Movie Macabre", she co-wrote, produced and starred in two feature films, "Elvira: Mistress of the Dark" (1988) and "Elvira's Haunted Hills" (2001). In 2010, she returned to syndicated television in a reboot of her original series, "Elvira's Movie Macabre" (2010). She returned in 2014 in a similar show format for Hulu's "13 Nights of Elvira". Her latest endeavors include producing, writing and starring in Elvira's 40th Anniversary, "Very Scary, Very Special, Special" - a 2021 four-hour special streaming on Shudder, and "Dr. Elvira", a Halloween promotional mini-series for Netflix. Cassandra Peterson has spent over four decades solidifying the "Elvira" brand that has become synonymous with Halloween and the horror genre. For more information on "Elvira" use the below link: KEVIN WEST From IMDB: Kevin Thomas West was born on 4 March 1965 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is an actor, known for "Junior" (1994), "Gone in 60 Seconds" (2000) and "Super Mario Bros." (1993). JOHN KASSIR From IMDB: John Edward Kassir was born on 24 October 1957 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA; and is an American actor and producer known for voicing "The Crypt Keeper" from "Tales From The Crypt". He also has played Jibolba from "Tak and the Power of Juju", "Deadpool" in various Marvel games and cartoons, Ralph from "Reefer Madness" and many more roles. For more information on "The Crypt Keeper" use the below link: Below is the opening for the show: "Heartstoppers: Horror At The Movies" - opening from The Professor's Scary Clips on Vimeo.

LINKS

Internet Movie Data Base "Heartstoppers: Horror at the Movies"	Internet Movie Data Base "George Hamilton"	Internet Movie Data Base "John Kassir"
Internet Movie Data Base "Cassandra Peterson"	E-gors Chamber of TV Horror Hosts "Elvira"	Internet Movie Data Base "Kevin West"

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