SCREAMING YELLOW THEATRE

JERRY G. BISHOP
- "SVENGOOLIE"
- "DURWOOD THE DUMMY"
- "ZELDA"



From IMDB:
Series that began simply as a medium for airing horror and science fiction movies, with some voice overs from Jerry G. Bishop. Soon, Bishop began to appear in videotaped segments as "Svengoolie", between episodes and commercial breaks. One of the writers on the show was young Rich Koz who went on to use the Svengoolie character to great success on the television show of the same name. Weird segments with a talking skull named Zelda and a ventriloquist's dummy named Durwood were the norm.

For more information on Rich Koz as "Svengoolie" use the below link:

Jerry G. Bishop, who was born on 3 August 1936 and passed away on 15 september 2013; is best remembered for portraying Svengoolie on "Screaming Yellow Theater," which aired in Chicago from 1970 to 1973. He then moved to San Diego in 1978 to become the host of "Sun Up San Diego." In his 13 years as host, he won 3 emmy awards. Along with his busy schedule, owned 2 Chicago themed restaurants, Greek Islands Cafe and Asaggio Pizza. He died of a heart attack at a local San Diego hospital.


Portrait of "Svengoolie" by Dave Dunlap.




Portrait of "Svengoolie" by Bradley Beard.
"Svengoolie" - biography (taken from Bradley Beard's Facebook page)
He gave us the program that asked "Why is Timothy leery?" Tonight I present Svengoolie, host of Screaming Yellow Theatre on WFLD-TV Channel 32 in Chicago, IL, which ran from 1970 to 1973. Jerry G. Bishop began the Svengoolie legacy by providing voice-overs for Screaming Yellow Theatre. Eventually the station added slides of Bishop dressed as Svengoolie which was later replaced by actual video segments. The show would begin with a different celebrity who would pry open Svengoolie's coffin. It featured skits with Svengoolie playing outrageous characters such as Mad Sven the used car dealer and The Galloping Ghoulmet. One of my favorites is "Sven's Flesh Forum for Fatso's" which advises viewers how to lose that excess blubber without selling it to your neighborhood Eskimos. Svengoolie's original coffin, also used by Rich Koz, can now be found resting in the Chicago Museum of Broadcast Communication.



In 2011, Jerry Bishop - "Svengoolie" for "Screaming Yellow Theatre", was inducted into "The Official Horror Host Hall of Fame".


The following are some clips from the show:

"Screaming Yellow Theater" - opening from The Professor's Scary Clips on Vimeo.


The following is a collection of newspaper advertisements for the show:

"Screaming Yellow Theater" - tv guide advertisements from The Professor's Scary Clips on Vimeo.

LINKS


Internet Movie Data Base
"Screaming Yellow Theatre"

Wikipedia
"Svengoolie"

Internet Movie Data Base
"Jerry G. Bishop"

Facebook: Bradley Beard - Horror Host Artist
"Svengoolie"

E-gors Chamber of TV Horror Hosts
"Svengoolie"

Wikipedia
"Jerry G. Bishop"

Crazy About TV
"Screaming Yellow Theater"



Facebook: Dunlap Art
"Horror Host Artwork"


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Last modified: March 2024