Ernie Anderson

Ernie Anderson was born Ernest Earle Anderson on November 12, 1923 in Lynn, Massachusetts.

He began working in radio at Burlington, Vermont's WSKI-AM in 1946. He met Tim Conway at WHK-AM in Cleveland and began writing with him.

They were hired by Cleveland's WJW-TV in 1961 where they created "Ernie's Place", a daytime show of movies and comedy sketches.

Rose Marie, best known as Sally Rogers on The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961), recommended him to Steve Allen who recruited him for his own show.

Liked to play the 1962 novelty song "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" by The Rivingtons.

He created the beatnik character Ghoulardi for himself, wearing a lab coat, fright wig, fake goatee beard and mustache and became popular introducing WJW-TV's Friday night horror movie show Shock Theater (1963).

Ernie had many run-ins with his management in Cleveland and moved to California full time in 1966.

He appeared in two episodes of Conway's television series Rango (1967) and then formed a comedy act with his old friend.

More television followed and, in 1970, he revived the character Ghoulardi for the Cleveland TV station WBMX-TV.

He was hired as "the voice of ABC" in the late 1970s where he continued to work well into the 1980s.

During a video interview segment that ran on the local ABC affiliate in Los Angeles in the early 1980s, he displayed a photo of his wife and kids that sat on his desk. Everyone in the photo was wearing fake glasses and fake noses as a gag.

He also did the voiceover for the previews of current episodes during the first three seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987).

Drew Carey has worn Ghoulardi T-Shirts on the set of The Drew Carey Show (1995) and dedicated an episode in his memory.

Ernie Anderson was inducted into the "Horror Host Hall of Fame" in 2011 for his horror host character "Ghoulardi" in the television series "Shock Theater" on WJW Channel 8 Cleveland Ohio.