On January 7, 2009 Bob Wilkins Passed away.  For someone of my generation growing up in the Bay Area Bob had a profound impact on my exposure to film.  Whether it was running home to see the next episode of Space Giants on Captain Cosmic or staying up late to watch Christopher Lee on Creature Features.  Growing up in a small rural town these shows were a responsible for expanding my idea of what film can be.   Though I never had the pleasure of meeting Bob Wilkins his impact on my life has been immeasurable.   Bob will be missed.

Click over to http://www.bobwilkins.net/ for more information about this iconic figure or continue on for biography from our friend John Stanley

BOB WILKINS BIOGRAPHY:

Born April 11, 1932, Bob Wilkins grew up in a small two-bedroom house in Hammond, Indiana. He was the eldest of seven children and the only son. With six sisters and one bathroom you’d have to laugh at the situation or go crazy. He worked at a number of odd-jobs, including: making ice cream, pinsetting in a bowling alley, writing ad copy, managing a car wash, and working at a steel mill in East Chicago. After three years of military service in Korea during the early fifties, he decided to go to college. He majored in Marketing. After graduation, he moved to Chicago and landed a job as a copywriter with Post-Keyes-Gardner, one of Chicago’s largest advertising agencies. Bob soon grew tired of the winters in Chicago. A friend with whom he had gone to school lived in Sacramento, California and invited Bob out to see that part of the country. On New Years day 1963, Bob jumped into his old Oldsmobile, drove across country to Sacramento and immediately began to look for a job. He got an offer from a TV station that was looking for someone to write and produce television commercials. They wanted to create their own in-house advertising agency. These were the days when local retailers still used the newspaper and radio formats. Only a few had attempted to use TV. Bob accepted the job and got his first venture into television with Channel 3 (KCRA) in Sacramento, an NBC channel. One day, when Bob hadn’t been at the station long, he went to a farewell party for the sportscaster who was leaving the station. All of a sudden he called on Bob to give his farewell address. Bob hardly knew the guy, but he got up in front of everyone and did a four or five minute monologue, sort of off the top of his head. It must have made an impression on management, because shortly after that they called him in and asked him if he wanted to host a late night movie on their TV station. They had an old library of horror films that was just gathering dust. Bob was taken back a bit and asked what they had in mind. They wanted him to take home a couple of horror movies and see what kind of ideas he could come up with and maybe have some fun with them. The first one Bob watched was "Attack of the Mushroom People." He had grown up like everyone else watching Karloff and Lugosi but had never seen this type of Japanese low-budget horror films. Bob thought "Attack of the Mushroom People" was a hilarious title and thought he would have some fun with it. He also felt he would have to be honest with the audience because in those days young people didn’t trust anyone over thirty. He had about two weeks to come up with a format and to decide if he even wanted to do the show.

In late 1966 after the 11:00 PM news most stations played the National Anthem and went off the air. It was the same for almost all stations across the country. There was no cable and very little all night programming, so this was going to be an extension after the news. Bob finally decided he would accept the offer to do the show. So on Saturday night, September 10^th, 1966 Bob hosted his first show with "Attack of the Mushroom People". Still he didn’t see how he could honestly tell people to watch it because he was sure they would turn off the TV and go to bed after the first few minutes of the film. So he did the opposite, he told them not to watch it. He even had a TV Guide and told them what was on the other two channels. Monday morning the clients who had sponsored the show called in to

management wanting to know what this young kid was doing on the air telling them not to watch. Management covered for Bob, and the show caught on because it was so unique and different for its time. Bob’s trademark cigar, a House of Windsor, the biggest, cheapest cigar he could find, came about because he was really nervous during the early shows. Smoking the cigar relaxed him and it also made an interesting prop. In reality Bob really didn’t know that much about horror films. He didn’t feel it was important because he would always preview the film first. He continued to do the show having unusual guests, amateur films, and B movies. This basically became the format for all of Bob’s shows. Management never told Bob whether they liked it or not. He was hosting the show, doing anything he wanted to and no one gave him any direction. Once the show got rolling, they booked every good horror film available, as no other station was interested in these old black-and-white films, so they came very cheaply.

In early 1970 the show on Channel 3 was cancelled. Bob never quite knew the exact reason for the cancellation because the show was doing real well. He parted in good terms with KCRA and immediately got an offer from KXTL Channel 40 in Sacramento to host a horror show there, where he did the show for the next eleven years.

Then in late 1970, while hosting the show at Channel 40, Bob was made an offer by Channel 2 (KTVU) in Oakland, to host a Creature Features show there starting at 9:00 PM every Saturday night. Bob accepted the additional work in the Bay Area while keeping his part time Sacramento job. The Channel 2 show quickly became a tremendous hit.Each week the show began with a montage of clips from some classic horror films projected with a rousing theme song. Bob’s shadowed outline seating in the famous rocking chair would emerge, strike a match, light a candle on top of a skull and the studio lights would come up. Channel 2 had a wonderful film library available for the show. The popular Universal Studios Horror film package was the biggest hit during the show's run. And San Francisco/Oakland’s Channel 2 played to a much larger market than Sacramento. As an added benefit, most actors would come to town with a press agent and contact Bob immediately if it had anything to do with science fiction or horror. Two of Bob’s favorites were Larry "Buster" Crabbe of Flash Gordon fame and Christopher Lee, who came to the studio promoting the new James Bond film, "The Man with the Golden Gun". Bob will always treasure his interview with Boris Karloff. He traveled down to Hollywood with friend Harry Martin from Sacramento to do some interviews. Someone asked, "Would you like to interview Boris Karloff?" Of course they jumped at the opportunity. It was one of those very hot, smoggy days in Los Angeles. Assistants brought out Boris Karloff in a wheelchair. He had respiratory problems and could hardly speak. Bob did a short promo for the show with him that went, "Mr. Karloff, have you ever heard of the Bob Wilkins Show? Karloff replied, "I’ve never heard of the Bob Wilkins Show, but if he plays my movies, God bless him." Afterwards he asked Bob, "Who is Bob Wilkins?" Bob introduced himself, and Karloff thought it was terrible. He didn’t want Bob to play it. This, along with Harry Martin’s interview with Boris on the same day, is believed to be the last known interview of Boris Karloff. Boris pasted away a few weeks later.

Creature Features quickly jumped into the top spot in its time slot. Its ratings even surpassed that of the network programming it was up against. As the show went along, people started to write in and point out errors Bob made on certain facts about the films. He eventually had three or four people that gave him information about the films to use on the show. Through these people supplying information Bob became the expert. Two of these people later went on to perform on television on their own, Bob Shaw who is still a film reviewer for Channel 2 and John Stanley who took over Creature Features in 1979 until 1984.

Bob did two shows a week for most of his career in television. Bob knew that when you have a job in television, it’s not going to be for the rest of your life. It’s all based on ratings. Ratings give you the audience and the audience sees the product. It’s that simple. With ratings so high Channel 2 management started to wonder where else could they use Bob’s talent. They had brought in a fairly new team for the 10 O’clock News, and they offered him the job of weatherman. Bob had no background in weather but he felt he could handle the situation. Accepting the job was a big commitment for Bob because he had to commute daily from Sacramento where he lived with his wife and two kids. Bob decided after completing his two-year agreement that being a weatherman wasn’t for him. Two years was enough. At the same time that his weatherman job ended, and to take advantage of the popularity of the new movie ''Star Wars", Channel 2 wanted to develop anafternoon show for kids. Tom Breen, who hired Bob for Creature Features, had locked up a lot of Japanese animation and wanted Bob to host the show. Bob took the animation home to show his kids, and they loved it. They decided to call the show "Captain Cosmic and His Wonder Robot 2T2." The robot always fascinated kids. It became the number one show in its time period of 4:30 PM to 5:00 PM. With the show on five days a week though, they quickly ran out of product. The station tried running old Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers serials, but the kids didn’t like these, and ratings started to slip. Towards the end Bob television career he was doing a Friday and Saturday Creature Features in the Bay Area, a Saturday show in Sacramento and five Captain Cosmics per week. Bob wrote all his own material, produce the shows, order the art work, answer the telephone, lined up the guests, answer fan mail and everything else to balance the draining schedule. Finally he just got tired. Bob decided to get back into the business he always knew he would, advertising. And Bob was very successful in that business. In 1993 he closed up his Oakland agency and moved with his family to Reno, Nevada. Over the years Bob has come back to the Bay Area to do many television specials. Most recently he has attended many local Bay Area conventions and special film shows. Fans traveled from all over the country to meet with Bob and talk about their memories of his shows. George Lucas, a big fan of Bob’s shows, recently wrote Bob thanking him for all the Saturday night memories. One thing is for sure; Bob will always be remembered by fans everywhere as one of the best TV Horror Hosts of all time.

BOB WILKINS TALKS CREATURE FEATURES AUGUST 1972:

"I think you are seeing the real Bob Wilkins every Saturday night. I pull no punches and try to tell it as it is. It’s quite simple how I became a horror movie host. I was in a Doggie Dinner and picked up a book of matches that said, ’become a horror movie host in your spare time.’ I took the correspondence course and then KTVU auditioned me. I didn’t beat out the other ten guys on talent it was a matter of money. The other ten wanted money, but I did it for practically free so I got the job."

" I would advise my fans that want to become a horror movie host to find gainful employment before they take on the thing. I couldn’t live on what they pay me for the shows."

Wilkins has said he lives in a trailer park in Sacramento and commutes to Oakland on a bus.

"Coming down here on the bus I think over the movies, highlights of the previous shows and, of course, I go to sleep near Vacaville. I'm constantly thinking about gimmicks each week to keep the audience entertained. I think that a movie host should be more than just a pretty face. You have to come on with a provocative opening and interesting comments during the movie."

"The trailer park is very comfortable. As I told the fans, we plugged the leak in the Doughboy and we’re having a wonderful summer, in spite of the heat. There’s a new pop machine with Dr. Pepper in it, and everything is just great."

Wilkins has said his daughter is a dwarf and that his son, age 36, has been in Vietnam for six years.

"My daughter is not a dwarf, we’ve discovered she’s a midget. There is a difference, of course. The government subsidizes midgets. We get a substantial check each month for her. The boy hasn’t written lately. Our CARE packages have come back marked ‘missing’. Not ‘missing in action’, just ‘missing’. Knowing the boy, he will come home as soon as the show ends. He’s taken quite a verbal beaten from other kids."

Creature Features often displays sign, which reads "Watch Horror Films, Keep America Strong."

"I think horror films keep our country strong. First of all, it keeps people in on Saturday nights. Even though the rate of alcoholism has gone up since the show has come on, at least the people are drinking at home.’ "Watching horror films, people lose their tendency for violence. It’s an outlet for them. Our society is so violent today and the movies dull the edge. You’ve noticed that since I have come on the air there have been no major riots in the Bay Area"

KTVU was bidding with Channel 20 on the film "Slaves of Bondage"

"We lost on that. Channel 20 got it. They outbid us by just three dollars. It would have made our whole season. Now we’ve got an uphill battle. We do have a new package of films coming in, but I’m not at liberty to discuss them, the titles are that hot"

"A Master of Put -On" written November 24^th, 1971

"Next week," announces host Bob Wilkins, as the floor manager signals for time, "we’ll have the original "Frankenstein" and "The Horror of Dracula." "The House of Dracula," shouts resident film buff Bob Shaw from out of camera range. Wilkins smiles and shrugs, The taping session is over. Starting as a single-film shot last January, the show soon expanded to a double feature because of the tremendous response from both viewers and advertisers. The key to the show’s popularity is Bob’s honesty towards his audience and total irreverence towards his films. He discards the typical announcer’s slick, rehearsal approach in favor of a more spontaneous, conversational tone. He uses no script, and no scene at the taping session is done more than once. In describing the films, he does not hesitate to pan them. When opening a show that featured Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D., he announced: "People have said we’ve never shown a good science-fiction film on this show. Well……. tonight were keeping that record intact."

Bob first mastered this technique at KCRA Channel 3 in Sacramento. A master of put-on and office wag, he was soon offered a host spot on a late-evening horror show. His responsibility is to fill 20 minutes of on camera airtime that is sandwiched with the films. He generally tries to do two things in this time: make comments about the films and provide interesting entertainment during the intermission between features. To prepare, he tries to take the films home with him a week in advance, where he screens in his garage-theater. Viewers will notice that his comments about the second film are far more general – since he usually only watches the first feature. When he isn’t able to preview either one, he relies on notes provided by his 19-year-old film consultant, Bob Shaw, whose encyclopedic knowledge of horror makes him indispensable. Some of these comments are done as 20-second spots called "bumpers," which are inserted into the film "to keep the audience awake."

During the 10-minute intermission between films, Bob often provides interviews with someone actually involved in the horror / science-fiction scene. He does not actively solicit such interviews, but rather depends on contact from interviewees, and there is seldom a shortage. One recent guest was George Wilkins (no relation) who claims a past life memory on the planet Jupiter, where he was a research scientist involved with Space Biology. All Jovians, he said, are about ten feet tall and muscular; and he produced a photograph of a flying saucer to prove his contention of life on other planets.

Bob gets many letters from witches and warlocks, though most of them refuse to appear on the show. An exception was a "gray witch" who recently wrote in from San Jose, wanting to appear for an interview. When no guest is scheduled, Bob often screens films by amateur filmmakers during intermission. He started doing this on his original Sacramento show to fill airtime, and found it so popular that he continued. He constantly receives films from would-be amateurs, some in elementary school. The first film screened on Creature Features was "The Horror of Party Beach", undoubtedly one of the worst films ever made. So he described it that way, and the audience watched it, he feels, precisely because he told them not to.

"The purpose of a movie host is to tell you about the movie and make it more entertaining. Be frank, put them on and try to be funny," he explains. "People like the irreverent approach because it’s different. TV is a big copycat business and it cries for originality. A basic showman, Bob was quick to feel the limitation of working without a live audience: if you’re funny in front of a group, they laugh—but all a TV camera does is stare at you. And although he insists he’s an introvert, possibly a result of growing up with six younger sisters, he enjoys talking to groups in person, "as long as there’s a fire exit I can slip out of." As a result, he has no great desire to go on with TV when the fad wears off and Creature Features disappears from the air. Despite offers to do news and other host spots, his innate pragmatism keeps

him in the advertising business. Maybe he will eventually leave the TV offers to his wife, who appeared once on the show as "Lovely Mildred." "She’s a bigger ham than I am".

But after five years on the air, he can’t deny that television is a powerful influence. He smiles cunningly, and one gets the feeling he is about to experience another Wilkins put-on. "It’s amazing what you can get away with after being on TV. I can cash checks anywhere, get better service in restaurants, and mothers love me!"

KCRA Channel 3 Sacramento – Seven Arts Theater / Bob Wilkins Seven Arts Theater

-Time slot: Saturday nights starting at 11:00 PM and after (1966 – 1970)

-First shows date: September 10^th 1966 (11:00 PM) (Verified from library microfiche)

-Movie: "Attack of the Mushroom People" (Verified from library microfiche)

-Last shows date: March 14^th 1970 (11:30 PM) (Verified from library microfiche)

-Movie: "Dr. Orloff’s Monster" (Verified from library microfiche)

KXTL Channel 40 Sacramento - Bob Wilkins Horror Show / Bob Wilkins Double Horror

-Time slot: Saturday nights starting at various times 10:00PM and after (1970-1981)

-First shows date: 1970 (Moved from KCRA 3) (Month & day needs research)

-Movie: Not known at this time (Needs additional research)

-Last shows date: 1981 (Verified from tape of last show)

-Movie: "Dracula: Prince of Darkness" (Verified from tape of last show)

KTVU Channel 2 Oakland / San Francisco - Creature Features

-Time slots: Saturday nights starting at various times 8:00 PM and after (1971-1979)

Friday nights at 11:00 PM (1976 – 1979)

-First shows date: January 9th, 1971 (9:30 PM) (Verified from library microfiche)

-Movie: "Horror of Party Beach" (Verified from library microfiche)

-Last shows date: February 24^th, 1979 (Verified from tape of last show)

-Movie: "Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde" (Verified from tape of last show)

KTVU Channel 2 Oakland / San Francisco - Captain Cosmic & 2T2

-Time slots: Monday through Friday 5:00 PM (1977 – 1979)

Monday through Friday 4:30 PM (1979 – 1980)

-First shows date: 1977 (Month & day needs research)

-Last shows date: Friday - January 18^th, 1980 (Verified from tape of last show)

KTVU Channel 2 Oakland / San Francisco - Creature Features with John Stanley

-Time slots: Saturday nights at 11:00 PM & 11:30 PM (1979 – 1984)

-First shows date: Saturday - March 3^rd, 1979 (Verified from John’s files)

-Last shows date: Saturday - September 1^st, 1984 (Verified from tape of last show)

-Movie: "Lemora, the Lady Dracula" (Verified from tape of last show)