Bob Wilkins

Bob Wilkins (April 11, 1932 – January 7, 2009) was a television personality born as Robert Gene Wilkins in the town of Hammond, Indiana. Wilkins was best known as the creator and host of a popular television show named Creature Features that ran on KTVU in the San Francisco Bay Area from 1971 to 1984, and which premiered with Del Tenney's infamous The Horror of Party Beach. The programming on Creature Features featured science fiction and horror film; everything from the classics, such as Bride of Frankenstein to turgid turkeys like The Vulture. More often than not, the films were good, and sometimes the show hit benchmarks: George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead had its world television premiere on the show, just a couple of years after its original theatrical release. Wilkins' style of wit was very dry, and fit very well with some of the "schlockers" he was forced to air, which was a big part of his appeal to his fans (somewhat in the style of Mystery Science Theatre 3000). As host of the show, his droll humor and onmnipresent cigar became his trademarks.