CREATURE FEATURE
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPRY

WILLIAM RUSSELL "RUSS" MCCOWN - "SIR CECIL CREAPE"
KEN BRAMMING - "ANNOUNCER"

The posters are AI generated based on the below photographs and information. "Creature Feature" was a hosted horror movie show with Russ McCown as "Sir Cecil Creape" screening at 10:30pm on Saturdays, on WSM-TV, Channel 4 Nashville, Tennessee, USA between September 1971 till December 1973. In 1973, the show was moved to Saturday afternoons. Ken Bramming was the pre-recorded announcer, and made a once on-camera appearance as "Dr. Lucifur" (Shock Theater 1958-1967 and Mystic Circle 1968-1969). To learn more about "Dr. Lucifur", use the below link. Sir Cecil Creape returned with "The Phantom of the Opry" screening on Saturday afternoons, on The Nashville Network (cable TNN) Nashville, Tennessee, USA between 13 March 1983 and December 1985. McCown passed away in January 1995. WILLIAM RUSSELL "RUSS" MCCOWN Russ McCown was an American television personality, film editor and performer best remembered for portraying Nashville horror host Sir Cecil Creape. Working behind the scenes at WSM-TV in Nashville, Tennessee, McCown became a local television personality when he brought Sir Cecil to the station's Saturday-night horror movie series Creature Feature in 1971. Creature Feature premiered on WSM-TV Channel 4 on September 25, 1971, with McCown appearing as Sir Cecil Creape, a grotesque, hunchbacked and buck-toothed horror host. The program combined horror and science-fiction movies with comedy segments and sketches performed by McCown between portions of the films. The series originally aired Saturday nights at 10:30 p.m. and continued through 1973. Sir Cecil became a popular figure in Middle Tennessee. WSM-TV established a Sir Cecil Creape fan club, while the Middle Tennessee Council of the Boy Scouts of America offered a "Sir Cecil's Ghoul Patrol" patch. McCown's identity was initially kept from viewers, adding to the character's local mystique. Future Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak, then working at WSM, contributed to scripts for Creature Feature. McCown later revived Sir Cecil for The Nashville Network (TNN). The character returned in The Phantom of the Opry, which premiered on March 13, 1983, during TNN's inaugural week. The nationally distributed cable series again featured McCown introducing horror films as Sir Cecil Creape and brought the character to an audience beyond the Nashville television market. McCown spent much of his professional career behind the camera as well. Nashville historical accounts identify him as a film editor at WSM-TV/WSMV, and one account states that he retired from the station in 1988 after a 35-year career. He was also active in Nashville theater. His portrayal of Sir Cecil Creape remained an enduring part of Nashville television history, and the Metropolitan Historical Commission later commemorated him with a historical marker. In 2015, McCown was posthumously inducted into the Horror Host Hall of Fame for his work as Sir Cecil Creape. Portrait of "Sir Cecil Creape" by Dave Dunlap. Portrait of "Sir Cecil Creape" by Bradley Beard. "Sir Cecil Creape" - biography (taken from Bradley Beard's Facebook page)" "Did someone caaaall?" Today I present the Master of Terrormonies Sir Cecil Creape. From deep within the catacombs of their studio, WSM-TV in Nashville, Tennessee presented Creature Feature from 1971 to 1973. Sir Cecil was a wickedly witty host whose show was scripted by the crafty pen of Pat Sajak, the same Pat Sajak who hosts Wheel of Fortune. Creape's show featured the coldest talent of his day such as the bodiless Yulie Ghoulies singing their rendition of "Cold Body" to the melody of "White Christmas". He also offered generous giveaways; his Cold Clammy Body Christmas contest was a smashing success. In the 1980's, he revived his show shortly on Sunday nights for TNN as the Phantom of the Opry. Sir Cecil was a very mysterious fellow, in fact the only man to ever know Sir Cecil's secret identity was Russ McCown and he never told a soul. And I'm not telling a soul about tomorrow. In 2015, Russ McCown - "Sir Cecil Creape" of "Creature Feature", was inducted into "The Official Horror Host Hall of Fame". The following are some clips from the shows: Creature Feature and The Phantom of the Opry hosted by Sir Cecil Creape (clips) from The Professor on Vimeo.

LINKS

Internet Movie Data Base "Creature Feature"	Facebook: Dunlap Art "Horror Host Artwork"	Internet Movie Data Base "The Phantom of the Opry"
Facebook: Bradley Beard - Horror Host Artist "Sir Cecil Creape"	E-gor's Chamber of TV Horror Hosts "Sir Cecil Creape"	Internet Movie Data Base "Russ McCown"
Find A Grave "William Russell 'Russ' McCown"	HMdb "Sir Cecil Creape"	WKRN "Sir Cecil Creape"

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