THE TELEVISION GHOST

ARTELLS DICKSON - "THE GHOST"
GEORGE KELTING - "THE GHOST"
BILL SCHUDT - "ANNOUNCER"

The show centered on the idea of ghosts telling the stories of how they were murdered. Each episode featured a different story, but the ghost was always played by George Kelting and Artells Dickson, whose costumes involved having their face painted white and a sheet wrapped around them. Due to the technical limitations of the time, the format was closer to that of a radio show, as the video footage only consisted of a continuous shot of The Ghost's head and shoulders as they talked. The show ran from 17 August 1931 until 15 February 1933. The Television Ghost contains examples of: "Fair Play Whodunit": The audience was supposed to try to figure out who murdered the ghost before the answer was revealed. "Halloween Episode": According to a newspaper snippet, the episode that aired near Halloween gave the ghost "free rein of the visual studios," allowing him to show off some simple special effects and Camera Tricks. "Minimalist Cast": Dickson or Kelting were the only actors, not counting the announcer Bill Schudt. "The Oner": Each episode consisted of a single shot of Dickson or Kelting's face. ARTELLS DICKSON Artells Dickson was involved with most forms of popular entertainment during the '20s, '30s, and '40s, leaving behind an impression not unlike a chameleon. He was in the '30s considered a so-called "serious" concert artist fronting the Artells Dickson Concert Company in which his wife, vocalist Martha Dickson, was one of the featured performers. But he was also down-home enough to publish and perform cowboy songs, a style that in the late '20s was as popular as rap was in the late '90s. Put a cowboy hat on Dickson and he was ready to pose for the cover of sheet music folios such as the volume published in his name by Cross Music. Whether he even wore the hat while portraying cowboy star Tom Mix on a radio serial is unknown; co-stars such as Russell Thorson aren't telling. (Thanks to Martin Dunne for this image and other information). On record, this artist was more likely to present himself as Art Dickson. This goes for the 78s released by Art Dickson & His Harmonicowboys, as rare as gold nuggets in the stream outside an abandoned mine, as well as the sentimental titles put out for moral support during the Second World War such as "She Gave Her Heart to a Soldier Boy" and "The Man of the Hour, General Eisenhower." The latter represents one of several ditties written to honor the war hero who became a president, best of which is "We Like Ike" by calypso legend the Mighty Sparrow. Besides his performing, Dickson was involved with money-making activities that were quite normal in the music industry during these decades but shady nonetheless. He and partner Geoffrey O'Hara managed to copyright the folk song "This Train" during the '30s -- put all the people who claim to have written this song aboard a locomotive and Amtrak's budget worries would be over for good. That's a joke, but the following one is better, an authentic shard of vintage radio mirth in which the subject of this biography plays an essential role: "If Ann Sothern had married, in succession, Perry Mason, Artells Dickson, and Peter Lyon, she would then be "Ann Sothern Mason Dickson Lyon." A recording of Artells Dickson singing "It Had to Be You". Play Clip There are no known clips from the show. The below is an AI of "The Ghost". The original AI video is by Gary Prange. "The Television Ghost" - AI from The Professor's Scary Clips on Vimeo.

LINKS

Internet Movie Data Base "The Television Ghost"	Wikipedia "The Television Ghost"	Internet Movie Data Base "George Kelting"
Lost Media Wiki "The Television Ghost"	TV Tropes "The Television Ghost"	Internet Movie Data Base "Bill Schudt"
All Music "Artells Dickson"	Discogs "Artells Dickson"	Internet Movie Data Base "Artells Dickson"

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