Wednesday, October 8, 2014

COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN (Day 8): KINDLY, LOVABLE DR. SCAR

Continuing with our list of interesting Horror Hosts of note (basically the ones I find most interesting) with our first physician of the month...

Kindly, Lovable Dr. Scar (as he referred to himself) was portrayed by broadcaster/program and promotions director Jack Jacobson for KGUN-TV’s “Big 9 Chiller” in the mid-1960s and well into the 1970s.  Combine the voices of Stan Lee and Caesar Romero and put a spooky twist on it and you’ve got the voice of Dr. Scar.



Here’s a neat radio interview with Jack Jacobson, Dr. Scar himself:


And a little more of that interview (along with a bit of an obituary) from a few years later:





A brief clip of Dr. Scar hosting and being talked to about hosting years later:




Jacobson also hosted “Science Fiction Theater” for KGUN as an entirely different character, a German-accented “Professor Otto Space”.  In fact, he developed characters and bits throughout his career as a broadcaster.  In Ohio in 1949, he had joined Uncle Bob Campbell, the cowboy host of “Lucky 13 Ranch” as cowhand “Whittlin’ Jake”.  Later he created “Nosey the Clown” who was so popular along side “Uncle Orrie”, the show lasted for ten years.  Other characters included “Chief Straight Arrow,” “The Professor,” seafarer “Captain Fogg Horn,” “Herman Noise the Fix-It Man,” and “Muley Skinner.”



Jacobson was a lifetime broadcaster, having worked from New York, to Ohio, to Arizona.  Upon retirement, he earned a spot in the Arizona Broadcaster’s Hall of Fame and the Gold Circle Society of the Rocky Mountain S.W. chapter of the National Academy of Arts and Sciences.



Here’s a tribute page for Jacobson the man:

A text interview with Jacobson bemoaning the loss of the locally hosted shows and what may’ve killed it:

An obituary for Jacobson


And a strange ad posted somewhere on the internet looking for a piece of Dr. Scar memorabilia:

Dr. Scar TV Horror Host Spookarama Kit
I am looking for a set of scans or photocopies of a Dr. Scar (Arizona TV horror host) "Spookarama" or "How to Haunt a House" MDA kit, from the 1970s. These were Muscular Dystrophy Association kits kids would mail away to Dr. Scar for, so they could hold their own charity haunted house in their garage to raise funds for the MDA. I am working on a biography of John Jones (Omaha's Dr. San Guinary), who designed the kits and allowed Dr. Scar and The Vegas Vampire to utilize them. As they were horror hosts, the typical MDA "carnival kit" of the era didn't quite suit their needs, thus a slight redesign! Would like to get a few scans of the artwork Dr. Scar tipped into his kit for my project. If you might have one of these rare kits, please contact me! Many thanks!

As always, a good place to look for Horror Host information is E-Gor’s…



And now enjoy the gams of Lilly Munster...


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