I ran this post last year and wanted to re-post it now that the Rondo Award voting season is here!!So without further adieu...Last year there were sadly no horror hosts inducted into the hall of fame, and I'd love to see that rectified this year.
I once again nominate Dr. Morgus aka Morgus the Magnificent.
Dr. Morgus began airing January 3, 1959, in New Orleans. Played by actor Sid Noel he is the classic mad scientist archetype. Along with his faithful sidekick Chopsley, Morgus introduced movies until the 1980s. In 2006 he came back on the air with a new batch of shows.
That is an incredible 50 year span as a horror host dating to present. Morgus syndicated into Detroit in the 1960s, first with a 5 minute weather spot/skit at 5:55 together with a robot sidekick named 'Armsby' (the forecast was projected on Armsby's front panel/chest), then later with MORGUS PRESENTS hosting movies. It also ran on WPIX in New York at one point, as well as a few other cities, I believe.
Week of Nov. 21-29 he appeared in TV Guide nationally...(thanks to David Sechrest for posting them here in the CHFB originally (click to enlarge and read)
Morgus made a feature length movie in 1962 called THE WACKY WORLD OF DR. MORGUS.
It featured the Instant People Machine, which turned people into sand and then back again - a plot device that would be lifted in 1966 in a little film called BATMAN.
Dr. John even recorded a groovy Morgus theme song called MORGUS THE MAGNIFICENT
Right click here to download: Morgus The Magnificent
(not sure if that link will work, but you can find it here: http://www.horrorhostgraveyard.com/2008/10/morgus-magnificent.html at the Horror Host Graveyard)
Actor Sid Noel is alive and well in New Orleans. I'd love to see him get this award while he is here to appreciate it.
Vote Morgus for the Hall of Fame.
In the name of SCIENCE!
Loved to watch morgus when i was a kid. Wish they would release the shows on dvd.
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