Bob Wilkins (born Robert Gene Wilkins; April 11, 1932 – January 7, 2009) was a
television personality
Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group due to the attention given to them by mass media. The word is also used to refer to famous individuals. A person may attain celebrity status by having great w ...
.
Wilkins was the creator and host of the popular television show ''
Creature Features'' that ran on
KTVU
KTVU (channel 2) is a television station licensed to Oakland, California, United States, serving the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned and operated by the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network through its Fox Television Stations division along ...
in the
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...
from 1971 to 1984.
The programming on ''Creature Features'' featured
science fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
and
horror film
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...
s, ranging from classics such as ''
Bride of Frankenstein
''Bride of Frankenstein'' is a 1935 American Gothic science fiction horror film, and the first sequel to Universal Pictures' 1931 film ''Frankenstein''. As with the first film, ''Bride of Frankenstein'' was directed by James Whale starring ...
'' to
B-grade obscurities like ''The Vulture''.
Wilkins' wit was very dry; it fit very well with the outrageously awful horror films he hosted. His approach suggested an aficionado's taste for genre cinema. His trade marks were his droll humor, his omnipresent
cigar
A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and Fermentation, fermented tobacco leaves made to be Tobacco smoking, smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct comp ...
, and sitting in his iconic rocking chair.
KCRA-3 and KTXL-40 in Sacramento
Wilkins started his on-camera television career in 1963 at
KCRA-TV
KCRA-TV (channel 3) is a television station in Sacramento, California, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Hearst Television alongside Stockton-licensed dual CW/MyNetworkTV affiliate KQCA (channel 58). The two stations shar ...
Channel 3 in
Sacramento, California
Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...
. He was writing and producing commercials for the station when he was tapped to be a fill-in host for an afternoon movie show in 1964. Wilkins was given his own time slot, hosting horror films on ''Seven Arts Theater'' (later advertised as ''Bob Wilkins Presents'' and ''The Bob Wilkins Show''), which followed the station's Saturday 11 p.m. newscast. The show debuted on September 10, 1966, with ''
Attack of the Mushroom People'' being the featured film. After several successful years, he was courted by former KCRA manager Tom Breen, then at
KTVU
KTVU (channel 2) is a television station licensed to Oakland, California, United States, serving the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned and operated by the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network through its Fox Television Stations division along ...
in
Oakland, California
Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...
, to bring his show to the San Francisco Bay Area. Breen was one of Wilkins' best supporters at KCRA, who had always encouraged the then-young host to try novel things, and to never be afraid of going for it. Bob left KCRA on his own terms, with his last show broadcast on March 14, 1970. However, after starting a new show on KTVU, Bob returned to Sacramento television, this time at
KTXL
KTXL (channel 40) is a television station in Sacramento, California, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. The station is owned by Nexstar Media Group, and maintains studios on Fruitridge Road near the Oak Park district on the so ...
Channel 40 on May 9, 1970, with ''The Bob Wilkins Double Horror Show'', an all-new production, which ran successfully for over a decade.
KTVU-2 in Oakland
On Saturday, January 9, 1971, after weeks of attention-grabbing teasers, ''Creature Features'' debuted on KTVU Channel 2 at 9:00 p.m. with ''
The Horror of Party Beach'', and immediately became a tremendous ratings winner. In response, the show expanded to a
double feature
The double feature is a Film, motion picture industry phenomenon in which theaters would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which the presentation of one feature film would be followed by various short subjec ...
format within its first year of broadcast on August 7, 1971. Another benchmark was when ''Creature Features'' ran the world television premiere of the already infamous 1968 horror film, ''Night of the Living Dead'', at 9:00 p.m. on January 1, 1972. So popular was Bob Wilkins' ''Creature Features'' that it would often beat network programming, such as ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
'', in the local
Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
. After six years, KTVU responded to popular demand by adding a single-movie Friday night show at 11:30 p.m., debuting on February 4, 1977. The following week, the Saturday Double Feature returned to a single-movie format starting at 11:30 p.m., and continued in this two-night format through Bob's last ''Creature Features'' show on February 24, 1979. Dropping the Friday night show, John Stanley took over the Saturday program at 11:00 p.m. on March 3, 1979.
During the height of his popularity, Wilkins, a soft-spoken, but sharp-witted character from Indiana, was able to produce and host a number of
prime time
Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...
specials, including ''The Star Trek Dream'' and ''The Bob Wilkins Super Horror Show'', as well as hosting occasional horror films on KTVU's weeknight ''8 O'Clock Movie'' show, in addition to making dozens of public appearances every year. Even with this seemingly heavy workload, including commuting every week to Sacramento from Oakland to tape his sister show on KTXL-40, he was first and foremost a devoted husband and father, coaching baseball at his son and daughter's school, and rarely staying up past 10 p.m. Eventually, Wilkins found himself, at the urging of KTVU management, joining the ''10 O'Clock News'' team in September 1972 as their weather reporter. After his two-year contract expired, he was eager to step down, as he didn't feel that he could be creative that late at night. In spite of this, he was nominated for a local
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
for a ski report, which used footage from the opening ski chase scene from the 1969
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
adventure, ''
On Her Majesty's Secret Service''.
Captain Cosmic on KTVU-2
In 1977, Wilkins launched an afternoon children's program on KTVU, ''
Captain Cosmic'', showcasing various sci-fi serials. such as ''
Spectreman,'' ''
The Space Giants,'' ''
Ultraman
The , also known as ''Ultraman'', is a Japanese science fiction media franchise owned and produced by Tsuburaya Productions, which began with the television series '' Ultra Q'' in 1966. The franchise has expanded into many television shows, fi ...
,'' ''
Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot'', and ''
Star Blazers
''Star Blazers'' is an American adaptation of the Japanese anime television series . ''Star Blazers'' was first broadcast in the United States in 1979. It was the first popular English-translated anime that had an overarching plot and storylin ...
''. Japanese imports were a prime focus, though the show also featured the 1936 Universal Pictures Serial ''
Flash Gordon,'' ''
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
''Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons'', often shortened to ''Captain Scarlet'', is a British science fiction television series created by Gerry Anderson, Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed by their production company AP Films#Century 21, Centu ...
,'' and the occasional movie serialized in five parts (''
Godzilla vs. the Thing'' and ''
Dagora, the Space Monster''). Donning a face-concealing helmet, Wilkins was uncredited, but fans of his ''Creature Features'' program recognized him immediately, while children who were not old enough to stay up late to watch ''Creature Features'' had no idea. Captain Cosmic's sidekick on the show was an actual, cable-controlled
automaton
An automaton (; : automata or automatons) is a relatively self-operating machine, or control mechanism designed to automatically follow a sequence of operations, or respond to predetermined instructions. Some automata, such as bellstrikers i ...
, named "Wonder Robot 2T2" that emulated
R2-D2
R2-D2 () or Artoo-Detoo is a fictional robot character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise created by George Lucas. He has appeared in ten of the eleven theatrical ''Star Wars'' films to date, including every film in the " Skywalker Saga", which inclu ...
in the ''
Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
'' series by uttering bleeps and blips (that only the good Captain could understand).
Return to advertising and retirement
At the height of his popularity, Wilkins decided to retire from television and go back into advertising. On February 24, 1979, after offering the job to several of his researchers, including film historian
David Del Valle, he relinquished the ''Creature Features'' hosting duties to ''
San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...
'' film critic
John Stanley (1979–1984). Wilkins continued his program on KTXL as ''The Bob Wilkins Double Horror Show'' from May 9, 1970, through February 14, 1981.
Although no longer a fixture on television, Wilkins periodically made appearances at comic book and fantasy conventions, film screenings and tributes, until two years before his death. He appeared at the 1976 Star Trek / Science Fiction convention InterCon in
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...
. After his departure from television, Wilkins concentrated on his advertising agency, which handled accounts such as the
Chuck E. Cheese restaurant chain. In the 1990s, he and his wife, Sally, retired and moved to
Reno, Nevada
Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...
.
Death
On August 14, 2007, John Stanley, Wilkins' replacement on ''Creature Features'', reported in an interview on the radio program ''
Coast to Coast'', that Wilkins had
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...
and was then living in Sacramento.
At age 76, Bob Wilkins died on January 7, 2009, from complications of Alzheimer's disease in
Reno, Nevada.
Legacy
Wilkins' fans include actor
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...
and Bay Area filmmaker
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker and philanthropist. He created the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman ...
, who watched the Sacramento programs as a youth in
Modesto
Modesto ( ; ) is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,069 according to 2022 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, it is the 19th-most populous city in California.
Modesto is locate ...
.
In 2008, a feature-length documentary on ''Creature Features'', ''
Watch Horror Films, Keep America Strong!'', debuted in several theaters in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 75-minute film features interviews with hosts Bob Wilkins and John Stanley, as well as other key figures close to the show, both behind-the-scenes and in front of the cameras. This is interspersed with vintage clips spanning the history of the show, highlighting the creative and experimental era of local broadcasting.
References
External links
Official Bob Wilkins websiteBob Wilkins Blog*
*
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110720121701/http://opie.wvnet.edu/e-gor/tvhorrorhosts/hostsb.html#BobWilkins TV Horror Hosts Listing for Bob Wilkinsbr>
Creature Features opening sequence used circa 1979
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkins, Bob
1932 births
2009 deaths
American television personalities
Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in Nevada
Horror hosts
People from Hammond, Indiana