Members monstermaker Posted May 2, 2007 Members Share Posted May 2, 2007 The last of the great ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tedster Posted May 2, 2007 Members Share Posted May 2, 2007 Lawson Deming as "Sir Graves Ghastly" I grew up in the Detroit area. Saturday afternoons were ruled by bad horror movies hosted by Sir Graves. Saturday nights were ruled by bad horror movies hosted by The Ghoul. From an online obit on "The Populist Blog"... "This is a day I've been dreading for a long time. As I first reported last evening on my Vintage Detroit TV & Movie Board, Lawson Deming, our beloved Sir Graves Ghastly, passed away Tuesday night, April 24th, just one day after his 94th birthday. I was awaiting forthcoming details from his family before updating this site. His granddaughter, Lisa, has so far informed me that Lawson had pneumonia and hadn't been responding to antibiotics.I sincerely thank the Deming family for communicating with me during this difficult time. Funeral services will be held Sunday at the Zeis McGreevey Funeral Home, 16105 Detroit Ave., Lakewood, Ohio. In lieu of flowers, the Deming family requests that friends and fans please consider making a monetary contribution to the Cleveland Institute of Art. Lawson Deming was one of Detroit TV's true class acts--both on and off the air. For many metro Detroit kids growing up in the '60s, '70s, and early '80s, Sir Graves Ghastly was like a member of the family. Like fans everywhere, I am very saddened to hear of Lawson's death, but at the same time, so very thankful for all the magical TV memories he gave us, and that he was able to live such a long, prosperous, and distinguished life. For my part, I'm taking great comfort in perusing all the wonderful messages shared by fans in the Guestbook here (feel free to add your own--messages aren't updated instantly, but will be visible within an hour or so usually), as well as in re-reading the Show History sections. For those who remember, things will never feel the same in metro Detroit. As fans, all our collective hearts go out to Lawson's family, as well as our thanks. Detroit will never forget Sir Graves Ghastly and Lawson Deming. Many Happy Hauntings to you, Sir Graves..." Yes, Happy Hauntings! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members brewgoodbeer Posted May 2, 2007 Members Share Posted May 2, 2007 Tis true. I grew up in NW PA with family in Detroit and Cleveland. We used to catch Sir Graves on the road and Bill Cardill at home. Very good memories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tedster Posted May 2, 2007 Members Share Posted May 2, 2007 Just another note... It really does mark the passing of an era. In my childhood..local TV ruled. And not just the local news (as is now). Local TV played a big part, especially in kids' TV. When I was quite young, in the Washington, D.C. area...the Popeye cartoon show was hosted by "Captain Tugg", a local actor dressed to look like a salty ol' tugboat skipper. "Ranger Hal" and his woodland friends hosted a similar show. Even commercials got into the act, with a local actor and weather guy portraying a clown for the local franchises of McDonald's. That actor was Willard Scott (yep, that Willard Scott)...and he was the first Ronald McDonald, before the national McDonald's chain thought to incorporate Ronald into their commercials. Perhaps the last and greatest holdouts to the ever-increasing trend (during the 70s) to minimize local influence on TV programming were the horror movie hosts. Every city had one...some were better than others. Most were downright cheesy, but the cheesier, the better. Folks like Sir Graves played the role straight, impersonating vampires or what have you. Folks like "The Ghoul"... (who has a nice tribute set up for Sir Graves on his site, BTW)... Ron Sweed, "The Ghoul" ...aimed their characters at a bit older, hipper crowd. But, the days of the horror movie host have passed. I'll raise a glass of beer to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the-good-way Posted May 2, 2007 Members Share Posted May 2, 2007 little on the older side but you guys remember the "hermit's Cave" radio program out of Detroit It was a family fave handed down through the years (broadcast engineers in the family, so early recording technology was avail to the fam damnily) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tedster Posted May 2, 2007 Members Share Posted May 2, 2007 Never heard of it, but I didn't move to the southeastern Michigan area 'til '69. And then, lessee...I was 12...and I listened to CKLW AM all the time. Until just by accident I heard someone listening to WRIF. I lived in Port Huron, and for a long time, you needed a special antenna to pick up WRIF FM, but ol' "CK" would push it out. Which isn't a bad thing...listening to CK hipped me up to a lot of cool stuff, like, say, Junior Walker and the All Stars, that I never would have heard if all I'd listened to was WRIF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Alndln2 Posted May 2, 2007 Members Share Posted May 2, 2007 I don't think we had this guy in NY. I wish we did. We had Zacherley(the cool ghoul) instead, who's still kicking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EerieDreamZ Posted May 2, 2007 Members Share Posted May 2, 2007 Remember Monster Movie Matinee? Back in the late 70s and early 80s we had that on WSYR tv 3 Syracuse. Eval and Dr Witty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OPEN OCEAN Posted May 2, 2007 Members Share Posted May 2, 2007 really sad... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members deanmass Posted May 3, 2007 Members Share Posted May 3, 2007 Man... Sir Graves was cool....he and the Ghoul ( with Froggie---hiya gang, hiya hiya hiya...) were the best things on when I was about 10. i am sure there were others that did this same thing, but the movie Fright Night was based on that whole genre of matin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tedster Posted May 3, 2007 Members Share Posted May 3, 2007 For awhile, TBS had Al Lewis (Grandpa Munster) hosting horror movies. That was cool. Up in Alaska, on Ratnet (Rural Alaska Television Network) they had something called "Tundra Terror Theater" for awhile. Ah well. Someone should revive this stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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