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ZACHERLEY Continued . . . Page 8
Amazingly, that's what happened. Zach was chosen to host WOR-TV - Channel 9's 3D presentation of Gorilla At Large. Zach appeared in costume in a sparse set, and included a funny bit whereby he attempts to create a mate for Mighty Joe Young, Jr. When the attempt fails, Joe Jr. tries to make it with Isobel with hilarious results. Joe Young Jr. also figured in a funny 1959 WOR skit whereby Zach attempted to remove a soccer ball from Joe's stomach so that he could resume playing for the Transylvania University soccer team. It seems that Zach was attempting to not only save Joe's scholarship but the season for T.U. Zach often waves a red and white Transylvania University pennant around during his skits and it turns out he originally got the banner from the real life school which is located in the U.S. During the fall of 1982, Zach appeared in concert with the 60 piece Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of Peter Nero. Originally, they tried to get Vincent Price for the Halloween event, but when he was busy, they contacted Zach. He said at the time, "I did it in full costume and really hammed it up. It turned out to be a lot of fun. I recited some pieces by Edgar Allan Poe including 'The Raven."' During 1982, Zach also appeared on Saturday Night Live and The Uncle Floyd Show, as well as making several live appearances during Halloween week. During 1983, Zacherle appeared on a series of WOR-TV anniversary promos called WOR Remembers and also appeared on Entertainment Tonight in a segment about horror hosts.
Whose Voice Is That? During 1983, Zacherley made a series of appearances for the Camera Corner, a chain of photography stores. Amazingly, the company misspelled his name as Zacharley and as Zack - "Tell 'em Zack sent you!" A series of promotional items including a life-sized cardboard standee were issued in conjunction with these ads.
On The Air Again Another project for Zach was the Crazy Nights TV pilot which featured Zacherle as the host and included among its guests, John Carradine and Vincent Price. The show, which was produced by Don Kirschner, was intended to run as a weekly hour-long show. Unfortunately, like many other worthy pilots, the show failed to sell even though it was touted in TV Guide and other publications. The year 1985 did see Zacherle's full scale return to television with no less than three television specials: The 13th Hour (WHT), Zacherley's Halloween (WHT), and The Return Of Roland (WCAU). Zach also appeared on the nationally syndicated Joel Martin Show,; the entire hour of programming was dedicated to Zach's career. These specials showed the Zacherle was still in good form, especially the Roland program in which Zach hosted the film Moon Of The Wolf and returned to the same set that he occupied in 1957-1958. During this period, Zach appeared live occasionally at New York area clubs including Danceteria where he performed his records with a rock band, and The Dive where he was joined by the star of The Blob; Earl Rowe.
What Next, Video? Zach also cut a new song in 1986 called "Overdrawn at the Bloodbank" for a local producer named Andy Zwerling. Unfortunately,this cassette only production had limited distribution and failed to reach it's potential audience. During the late 1980's, Zach kept busy with the occasional personal appearance such as 1985's Creation Convention and occasional television guest shots including Good Day, New York (Fox), WPIX 40th Anniversay, and Live On City Live (WCAU Philadelphia). In 1987, Zach hosted a one hour Friday The 13th special on MTV and journeyed back to Philadelphia to participate in Roland's 30th Anniversary and to host the BBC movie, Frankenstein. At this time, the Zacherley At Large newsletter was established and continues publishing to this day. |
Zach Is Back!!