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Sir Graves Ghastly Presents

Television Horror Movie Hosts
By Elana M. Watson
McFarland & Company, 1991

The wind howls. Cats squeal. Cemetery gates creak. Dense fog fills the air. Suddenly a white-faced man sits up in his coffin. He sports a goatee and mustache. Both are black and greasy, as is his hair, which has been combed down over a balding forehead. There his hair forms into a large curl. The hair on either side of his temples is also combed forward into curls. Heavy black eyebrows arch over each eye. They too curl, upward at the bridge of his nose. He is dressed in traditional vampire horror-host attire--a tux and a cape, accented by purple gloves. He is Detroit's own Sir Graves Ghastly.

He began hosting Sir Graves Ghastly Presents on WJBK Channel 2 in 1966. The show ran on Saturday afternoons from 2:30 until 5:00 for over 16 years. It was most popular with school-age children. The show was eventually canceled in April 1983. Sir Graves Ghastly Presents was also seen in the Washington, D.C., area for a short time between the late 1960s and the early 1970s on the now defunct WTOP Channel 9.

The ghastly one himself was portrayed by Lawson J. Deming, a native of Medina, Ohio. Born in 1928, Deming has worked in radio and television for most of his life. He has been everything from an actor and producer to a radio sound-effects man. One of his special talents formed in the days of radio, is doing accents. He could do 27 ethnic dialects. In 1949 he began working in TV hosting a film show in Cleveland. That show lasted until 1956. Deming also used to tour the lecture circuit as a phony Russian science professor called Miechyslav Dombrozon who spoke about UFO sightings. Dombrozon also liked to say terrible things about Americans. Unfortunately for Deming, sometimes there were audience members who didn't realize that his act was a joke.

But that was rarely the case with Sir Graves. A small man with an upturned nose, Deming looked more cartoonish than frightening in his theatrically ghoulish makeup. Perhaps that is why he was so popular with children. It also helped that the show was packed with many other equally buffoonish characters, most of these also played by Deming. Among them was Tilly Trollhouse, Sir Graves's girlfriend. She looked just like Sir Graves in a stringy blond wig and without the beard. Tilly usually lip-synched or mimed to Florence Foster Jenkins or Spike Jones records. She also ran for president once, using as her slogan "Tippecanoe and Tilly too." More menacing than Tilly was Walter, Sir Graves's alter ego. He often tried to take over the show and used to chastise Sir Graves by saying, "You're sick, sick, sick!" Walter also liked to lip-synch. One of his favorite tunes was"Three Little Fishies." Usually the screen would appear to fill with water for this number. Then there was the Glob, Sir Graves's mouth filmed upside down, then surrounded by a circle. The Cool Ghoul at least had more than just a mouth, but not much more. He was a 1950s motorcycle guy whose bike crashed on his way home from a party. The only thing left of him was his head. There were also the Voice of Doom and a sarcastic skeleton head. Ivan Awfulitch was a failed weightlifter who liked to play the guitar while Walter would read his poetry. Ghastly also had a familiar, called Baruba, who would do Sir Graves's bidding. And like a good spook, Baruba was never seen, just heard.

In the later years of the show a new character was added. His name was Digger Deeper, and he was played by Walter Selbman. As his name implies, Digger was a gravedigger, and he appeared much like Igor from the Frankenstein movies. Sometimes Digger liked to play the organ, and when he did, it was usually something spooky, like Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor. Selbman also occasionally donned monster masks to portray the Frankenstein monster a werewolf, and others.

When asked about his origins, Sir Graves liked to explain that he was once a contemporary of William Shakespeare's. This explained his British accent. Unfortunately for him, though, back in the old days Sir Graves once had thc bad sense to get into an argument with Queen Elizabeth. This resulted in his being hanged in the Tower of London. But as he cheerily liked to explain, "The hanging was like a poor vaccination. It didn't take."

What did take was Ghastly's corny, campy cutups. He was beloved by kids and popular enough that hundreds of schoolchildren attended tours of the studio where his show was taped. Sometimes Sir Graves even slipped out of his graveyard studio long enough to do personal appearances, like the one at the Main Theatre in suburban Royal Oak. There, after a showing of Dracula, Prince of Darkness, the Ghastly one starred in a magic stage show. This was rather Grand Guignol in nature and featured such lurid effects as limbs being sawed off. Afterward, the audience was invaded by rubber-masked monsters.

The taping of Sir Graves Ghastly Presents wasn't always as exciting as the live stage shows. Because so many technical effects were required, Deming often found himself doing a lot of waiting between takes. It was then that having a coffin came in handy. As he told the Detroit Free Press in 1980, "The coffin is very comfortable. I've been known to take a nap when they have technical problems. Why not?" Actually, the idea of napping in a coffin sounds ominous only when one considers that Sir Graves's casket was mounted on two sawhorses.

Another trademark of the Ghastly show was the time he spent showing off his fan mail. He actually had a bulletin board on which he displayed drawings by his fans. And he made birthday announcements. This gave his show an extra personal touch.

As for the movies themselves, Sir Graves presented both the best and the worst. Among the former were the Universal classics. The latter, however, usually included films along the lines of that Japanese extravaganza Attack of the Mushroom People. Deming, a science-fiction buff himself, confided to the Detroit Free Press that he generally disliked all Japanese sci-fi movies. In particular, he despised a series of films called Starman, which actually embarrassed him. Among his favorites were The Thing and War of the Worlds.

While Sir Graves Ghastly was primarily an afternoon ghoul, he did do some evening specials, including a highly publicized "Night of the Apes," featuring King Kong and Mighty Joe Young. There was even an iron-on patch to commemorate this event. WTOP in Washington, D.C., also had a regular Friday-night version of Sir Graves Ghastly. These shows were more adult-oriented than the afternoon shows and generally had less hijinks going on. In spite of this, Sir Graves was on the air in Washington for only a few years. But in Detroit he continued to be popular until his cancellation in 1983. Deming's contract was not renewed. He then became an announcer on the Storer Broadcasting station in Cleveland, WJKW. Like Baruba, the familiar, he was only heard, not seen.

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		Sir Graves Ghastly Presents Television Horror Movie Hosts By Elana M. Watson McFarland & Company, 1991 The wind howls. Cats squeal. Cemetery gates creak. Dense fog fills the air. Suddenly a white-faced man sits up in his coffin. He sports a goatee and mustache. Both are black and greasy, as is his hair, which has been combed down over a balding forehead. There his hair forms into a large curl. The hair on either side of his temples is also combed forward into curls. Heavy black eyebrows arch over each eye. They too curl, upward at the bridge of his nose. He is dressed in traditional vampire horror-host attire--a tux and a cape, accented by purple gloves. He is Detroit's own Sir Graves Ghastly. He began hosting Sir Graves Ghastly Presents on WJBK Channel 2 in 1966. The show ran on Saturday afternoons from 2:30 until 5:00 for over 16 years. It was most popular with school-age children. The show was eventually canceled in April 1983. Sir Graves Ghastly Presents was also seen in the Washington, D.C., area for a short time between the late 1960s and the early 1970s on the now defunct WTOP Channel 9. The ghastly one himself was portrayed by Lawson J. Deming, a native of Medina, Ohio. Born in 1928, Deming has worked in radio and television for most of his life. He has been everything from an actor and producer to a radio sound-effects man. One of his special talents formed in the days of radio, is doing accents. He could do 27 ethnic dialects. In 1949 he began working in TV hosting a film show in Cleveland. That show lasted until 1956. Deming also used to tour the lecture circuit as a phony Russian science professor called Miechyslav Dombrozon who spoke about UFO sightings. Dombrozon also liked to say terrible things about Americans. Unfortunately for Deming, sometimes there were audience members who didn't realize that his act was a joke. But that was rarely the case with Sir Graves. A small man with an upturned nose, Deming looked more cartoonish than frightening in his theatrically ghoulish makeup. Perhaps that is why he was so popular with children. It also helped that the show was packed with many other equally buffoonish characters, most of these also played by Deming. Among them was Tilly Trollhouse, Sir Graves's girlfriend. She looked just like Sir Graves in a stringy blond wig and without the beard. Tilly usually lip-synched or mimed to Florence Foster Jenkins or Spike Jones records. She also ran for president once, using as her slogan "Tippecanoe and Tilly too." More menacing than Tilly was Walter, Sir Graves's alter ego. He often tried to take over the show and used to chastise Sir Graves by saying, "You're sick, sick, sick!" Walter also liked to lip-synch. One of his favorite tunes was"Three Little Fishies." Usually the screen would appear to fill with water for this number. Then there was the Glob, Sir Graves's mouth filmed upside down, then surrounded by a circle. The Cool Ghoul at least had more than just a mouth, but not much more. He was a 1950s motorcycle guy whose bike crashed on his way home from a party. The only thing left of him was his head. There were also the Voice of Doom and a sarcastic skeleton head. Ivan Awfulitch was a failed weightlifter who liked to play the guitar while Walter would read his poetry. Ghastly also had a familiar, called Baruba, who would do Sir Graves's bidding. And like a good spook, Baruba was never seen, just heard. In the later years of the show a new character was added. His name was Digger Deeper, and he was played by Walter Selbman. As his name implies, Digger was a gravedigger, and he appeared much like Igor from the Frankenstein movies. Sometimes Digger liked to play the organ, and when he did, it was usually something spooky, like Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor. Selbman also occasionally donned monster masks to portray the Frankenstein monster a werewolf, and others. When asked about his origins, Sir Graves liked to explain that he was once a contemporary of William Shakespeare's. This explained his British accent. Unfortunately for him, though, back in the old days Sir Graves once had thc bad sense to get into an argument with Queen Elizabeth. This resulted in his being hanged in the Tower of London. But as he cheerily liked to explain, "The hanging was like a poor vaccination. It didn't take." What did take was Ghastly's corny, campy cutups. He was beloved by kids and popular enough that hundreds of schoolchildren attended tours of the studio where his show was taped. Sometimes Sir Graves even slipped out of his graveyard studio long enough to do personal appearances, like the one at the Main Theatre in suburban Royal Oak. There, after a showing of Dracula, Prince of Darkness, the Ghastly one starred in a magic stage show. This was rather Grand Guignol in nature and featured such lurid effects as limbs being sawed off. Afterward, the audience was invaded by rubber-masked monsters. The taping of Sir Graves Ghastly Presents wasn't always as exciting as the live stage shows. Because so many technical effects were required, Deming often found himself doing a lot of waiting between takes. It was then that having a coffin came in handy. As he told the Detroit Free Press in 1980, "The coffin is very comfortable. I've been known to take a nap when they have technical problems. Why not?" Actually, the idea of napping in a coffin sounds ominous only when one considers that Sir Graves's casket was mounted on two sawhorses. Another trademark of the Ghastly show was the time he spent showing off his fan mail. He actually had a bulletin board on which he displayed drawings by his fans. And he made birthday announcements. This gave his show an extra personal touch. As for the movies themselves, Sir Graves presented both the best and the worst. Among the former were the Universal classics. The latter, however, usually included films along the lines of that Japanese extravaganza Attack of the Mushroom People. Deming, a science-fiction buff himself, confided to the Detroit Free Press that he generally disliked all Japanese sci-fi movies. In particular, he despised a series of films called Starman, which actually embarrassed him. Among his favorites were The Thing and War of the Worlds. While Sir Graves Ghastly was primarily an afternoon ghoul, he did do some evening specials, including a highly publicized "Night of the Apes," featuring King Kong and Mighty Joe Young. There was even an iron-on patch to commemorate this event. WTOP in Washington, D.C., also had a regular Friday-night version of Sir Graves Ghastly. These shows were more adult-oriented than the afternoon shows and generally had less hijinks going on. In spite of this, Sir Graves was on the air in Washington for only a few years. But in Detroit he continued to be popular until his cancellation in 1983. Deming's contract was not renewed. He then became an announcer on the Storer Broadcasting station in Cleveland, WJKW. Like Baruba, the familiar, he was only heard, not seen. Copyright ©1991 Elana M. Watson. All rights reserved. Article respectfully shared under the Fair Use Doctrine of International Copyright Law as educational material without benefit of financial gain. <Back Website ©2002-2005 Keith Milford. All Rights Reserved.