John Zacherle, American television and radio personality and voice actor, Died at 98

  Actors, Media

John Zacherle was born on September 26, 1918, in Philadelphia and died on October 27, 2016.
He was an American television host, radio personality, and voice actor.
John was best known for his long career as a television horror host, often broadcasting horror movies in Philadelphia and New York City in the 1950s and 1960s.
He was famously known for his character of “Roland/Zacherley,” he also did voice work for movies, and recorded the top ten novelty rock and roll song “Dinner With Drac” in 1958.
Zacherle also edited two collections of horror stories, Zacherley’s Vulture Stew and Zacherley’s Midnight Snacks.
Zacherle was also the uncle of My Little Pony creator Bonnie Zacherle.
John Zacherle was raised in Philadelphia’s Germantown neighborhood, where he went to high school.
John received a bachelor’s degree in English literature from an Ivy League school, the University of Pennsylvania.
During the time of World War II he enlisted in the United States Army and served in North Africa and Europe.
When the war was over, he returned to Philadelphia and joined a local repertory theatre company.
In the year 2010, John Zacherly starred in the documentary, The Aurora Monsters: The Model Craze That Gripped the World.
That film was written and produced by Dennis Vincent and Cortlandt Hull, who was the owner of the Witch’s Dungeon Classic Movie Museum in Bristol, Connecticut.
The documentary had a number of short pieces featuring Zacherly and his puppet co-host Gorgo, of Bill Diamond Productions.
Which won a Rondo award.
He continued to make appearances at conventions through 2015, and to this day, Zacherle collectibles are still selling, including model kits, T-shirts, and posters.
In the book Goodnight, Whatever You Are by Richard Scrivani, chronicling the life and times of The Cool Ghoul, debuted at the Chiller Theatre Expo in Secaucus, New Jersey, in October 2006.
Then Scrivani and Tom Weaver followed it up with the scrapbook-style “The Z Files: Treasures from Zacherley’s Archives” in 2012.
John Zacherle passed away at 98 years old.