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Chilly Billy - Saturday late night horror show
personality who hosted Chiller Theater in Pittsburgh from 1963 through 1983 on
WIIC-TV (later WPXI-TV) Channel 11.
From week to week, Chilly Billy (a.k.a. "Bill Cardille") dressed
conservatively in a dark suit and tie (later a tuxedo) and introduced the people
of Pittsburgh to such classic horror fare as It Came From Outer Space
(1953), Last Man on Earth, (1964), The Wolf Man (1941) and The
Mummy (1932).
During the movie breaks Chilly Billy transformed into a number of zany
characters including Captain Bad, Maurice the Matchmaker, and the Little Old
Monster Maker.
Other cast members roaming the show's laboratory set (later a castle) were
Georgette the Fudgemaker, Norman the Castle Keeper, Stephen the Castle
Prankster, and Terminal Stare (an attractive woman who never spoke).
The program also featured an annual Halloween extravaganza and a yearly
parody of the Miss America contest called "Mess America," a tribute to homely
women.
In 1968, Bill Cardille made a cameo appearance as a TV news reporter in the
cult classic Night of the Living Dead (1968) directed by George Romero.
In the film, Cardille interviewed a local police chief about reported sightings
of flesh-eating zombies rampaging through the countryside.
"Chiller Theater" quit production on December 31, 1983 at 1:00 A.M. For a
sample of Chilly Billy's comic talents listen to his sixties album "Chilly Billy
Goes on Record" (Gateway Recordings/GSL-9019).
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