Sir Graves Ghastly was a character created by Cleveland-born actor Lawson J. Deming (1913–2007) for the popular television show of the same name. Sir Graves was a

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

whose persona, look, and exaggerated laugh ("Nnnnyeah-ha-ha-ha-haaaaaaaaah!") were intended to parody the cliched portrayal of vampires in horror films of the time. Other characters on the show included Sir Graves'

sidekick A sidekick is a close companion or colleague who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to those whom they accompany. Origins The first recorded use of the term dates from 1896. It is believed to have originated in pickpocket slang of ...

Baruba, a ghostly apparition known only as The Glob, and a cemetery caretaker named Reel McCoy, who traditionally opened each episode by unearthing a movie reel from what appeared to be a grave. The show followed a consistent format of back-to-back horror films, interspersed with brief

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches" or, "skits", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. While the form developed and became popular in ...

pieces featuring the many characters. The program was originally billed as ''Sir Graves' Big Show'', but later became known simply by the character's name. ''Sir Graves Ghastly'' had its longest run Saturday afternoons on

WJBK WJBK (channel 2) is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Owned and operated by the Fox network through its Fox Television Stations division, the station maintains studios and transmitter facilities on West 9 Mile Road in th ...

, TV2 in Detroit, from 1967 to 1982: fifteen seasons in all. In the 1970s, Deming marketed the show to Cleveland and Washington, D.C., where it also became a hit, but his popularity in those markets never quite reached that of the Detroit-area audience. The growing popularity of televised sports in the early 1980s, particularly college football, sent ''Sir Graves'' into hiatus in November 1982. A management change during this time led to the program being officially cancelled in 1983 before any other shows were produced. As he did while his show was running, Deming continued to do speaking engagements and personal appearances well into the 1990s.

References

External links

SirGravesGhastly.com
(archived)
Lawson J. Deming, Horror host
- Facebook Ghastly Television in Cleveland Television in Detroit Horror movie television series Horror hosts 1967 American television series debuts Television characters introduced in 1967 {{tv-char-stub Died: April 24, 2007 Source: Lawson_J._Deming