WEIRDO THEATER

KENNETH SYDNESS - "OLE ANDERSON"
(KEN KENNEDY)

"Weirdo Theater" was a hosted horror movie show on WDAY-TV channel 6 in Fargo, North Dakota, USA; in the late 1960s; screening at 10:30pm on Saturday nights; with Ken Kennedy (birth name: Kenneth Sydness) as host "Ole Anderson". KEN KENNEDY AS "OLE ANDERSON" From "Free Thought Blogs" from UFO The show would open with a title sequence with a drippy font, some delightfully-cheesy screams, and a guy in basso profundo (complete with a similarly-cheesy reverb,) that went something like this: "Out of the muggy regions of the dead. Out of the black depths of the mind. Come the fiends, the horrors, and chilling suspense, on WEEEIIRRRRDO THEEEATAAAAH... AH HOO HOO HAA HAA HAA HAA HAAAA!! And now...your HOST for tonight's tale of terror". It would cut to a well-lit room with a casket, kind of like a funeral home; the casket would open, Kennedy would sit up and immediately rattle off this string of Norwegian. I don't know that language so I don't know if it was an actual sentence or just gibberish, but phonetically it sounded something like "Gasnaganola smoli ahgen yuli - (something) - mach shvelda" (or somesuch,) then "Ole Anderson here vid a nudder spooooky moooovie!" Then he'd do a short description/intro about the movie (still in the Norwegian schtick) then the film itself would start. The whole thing was a great ritual and got the stations some good ratings off of those dusty old movies. It was all the gothic horror classics, and a huge number of the cheesier B-grade Sci-Fi flicks with the gigantic insects (invariably resulting from "atomic radiation"). I forget what Kennedy wore, but I think it was something like a farmer's outfit with suspenders? KENNETH JEFFRIES SYDNESS (Ken Kennedy) Ken Jeffries Sydness was born on 26 November 1911 in Fargo, Cass County, North Dakota, USA; and passed away on 18 August 1976 in Fargo, Cass County, North Dakota, USA. From Ken's daughter, Virgina Harris: (taken from Inforum) "Often were the times when my adventures at school or home would become the subject of one of his shows. My dad was indeed beloved in the community - and his Ole Anderson routine was unmatched. "Kennedy" was Ken's radio name; he was Ken Sydness, who was born in 1911 and died in 1976. He was with WDAY Radio from 1933 until his death. He emceed several programs, including Tello-Test Time, Talent Parade and Hayloft Jamboree. He also served on the Fargo Park Board for 15 years. He was named Outstanding Man of the Year by the Fargo Junior Chamber of Commerce in 1942."

LINKS

Internet Movie Data Base "Weirdo Theater"	Internet Movie Data Base "Kenneth Jeffries Sydness"	Free Thought Blogs "Weirdo Theater"
Inforum "Readers remember old-time radio voices"	Reddit "Weirdo Theater"	Find A Grave "Kenneth Sydness"

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