The Vegas Vampire was a vampire of late night ''Shock Theater'' and ''Vegas Vampire'' shows at KHBV/

KVVU KVVU-TV (channel 5) is a television station licensed to Henderson, Nevada, United States, serving the Las Vegas area as an affiliate of the Fox network. Owned by Gray Television, the station maintains studios at the Broadcast Center on West Suns ...

, Channel 5, in

Henderson Henderson may refer to: People *Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname *Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada * H ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, and broadcast to the greater

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

area from the late 1960s through the 1970s. The Vegas Vampire's show featured grade-“B”

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

monster films A monster movie, monster film, creature feature or giant monster film is a film that focuses on one or more characters struggling to survive attacks by one or more antagonistic monsters, often abnormally large ones. The film may also fall und ...

, and

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstellar ...

s. The show was aired on Friday nights at 11 p.m. PST.

History

Jim Parker, a Wisconsin-native, worked in as a disc jockey and stock car racing promoter, and as a news reporter. During a stint as a reporter for an NBC affiliate in Las Vegas he decided he wanted to do a comedy show, but the station was not interested, nor were the other network affiliate stations. Finally, he sold the show to the local Channel 5 station (KHBV/

). He picked the name "Vegas Vampire" because he liked the alliteration. The show ran on and off for nine years. Parker even claims one cancellation was due to his ending up on President Richard Nixon's enemies list after the Vampire did a routine with a Nixon voodoo doll, stuck pins in it and put the doll in a guillotine in a comparison to Marie Antoinette.

Show format

The character of the Vampire appeared at the start of each show and at commercial break interruptions. Like other horror hosts, he would critique and ridicule the film being aired. One of his early trademark routines was to stick pins in

voodoo doll The term Voodoo doll commonly describes an effigy into which pins are inserted. Such practices are found in various forms in the magical traditions of many cultures around the world. Despite its name, the dolls are not prominent in Haitian Vodo ...

s of politicians, civic leaders, and celebrities while needling them verbally. The character became popular enough that nationally known celebrities would sometimes appear on the show while performing in Vegas, including

Red Buttons Red Buttons (born Aaron Chwatt; February 5, 1919 – July 13, 2006) was an American actor and comedian. He won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his supporting role in the 1957 film ''Sayonara''. He was nominated for awards for his acting work i ...

and Frank Sinatra, Jr. The Vampire would also read viewer letters on air, then burn them. Early on the Vampire segments were performed live, but later it was a taped program, allowing it to be played multiple times during the weekend. The host's then wife, Paula (P.J.) Parker (now P.J. Housman), played the part of "Satana" on the show in its later years. In 1977, Variety and syndicated columnist Forrest Duke reported plans to do a road show version.

Other appearances

Parker stars in a non-sexual role in full vampire get-up as Dracula in

Ray Dennis Steckler's Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gra ...

1971 pornographic movie "MAD LOVE LIFE OF A HOT VAMPIRE". Parker's Vegas Vampire was a popular local celebrity. He traveled the streets of Las Vegas and Henderson in a trademark Hearse, and appeared at many local business openings. For many years he hosted the local segments of the

Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon The ''MDA Labor Day Telethon'' was an annual telethon held on (starting the night before and throughout) Labor Day in the United States to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). The Muscular Dystrophy Association was founded in ...

, and participated in local shows and charity events like the St. Jude's "Nite of Stars" show, and the Clark County Talent Guild's "Stars of Tomorrow" show. So popular was the character that at one point Parker was appointed director of publicity and public relations for TV-5. One Halloween in the 1990s the Vegas Vampire was invited to return to Vegas' Circus Circus to turn the Grand Slam Canyon (later

Adventuredome Adventuredome (formerly Grand Slam Canyon) is a indoor amusement park at Circus Circus in Winchester, Nevada on the Las Vegas Strip. It is owned by Phil Ruffin. It is contained within a large glass dome, and offers various rides and attraction ...

) ride complex into the Dome of Doom.

Novelty song

"The Vegas Vampire" is also the title of a

novelty song A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and w ...

about the character. Written and produced by Parker and Bruce Popka, the recording has been played on the

Dr. Demento Barret Eugene Hansen (born April 2, 1941), known professionally as Dr. Demento, is an American radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograp ...

radio program's 1984 Halloween Show and appeared on the album ''Elvira: Vinyl Macabre Oldies (But Ghoulies) (Vol. 1)''http://stevexs.tripod.com/comedy/rece/elv.html.

References

{{reflist Horror hosts Horror movie television series