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'''Count Gore de Vol''' is a television ] who originally appeared on ]'s ] from 1973 to 1987.<ref name=watsonbook>{{cite book| last =Watson| first =Elena M.| title =Television Horror Movie Hosts: 68 Vampires, Mad Scientists and Other Denizens of the Late Night Airwaves Examined and Interviewed| publisher =McFarland & Company| year =2000| location =Jefferson, North Carolina, United States| url =http://www.mcfarlandpub.com/book-2.php?id=978-0-7864-0940-2| isbn =0-7864-0940-1| access-date =2007-08-01| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20070928011709/http://www.mcfarlandpub.com/book-2.php?id=978-0-7864-0940-2| archive-date =2007-09-28| url-status =dead}}</ref> Originally named M.T. Graves and played by announcer ], the character first appeared on the WDCA version of the ] program. When the character got a positive reaction, he was given his own program, called '']''. The choice of Gore de Vol as the character's name was either a pun involving the name of acerbic author ] or the name of a prominent Washington, D.C. funeral home, "de Vol". Gore de Vol became the Washington/Baltimore area's longest-running horror host, broadcast every Saturday night on WDCA from March 1973 to May 1987.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://countgore.com/gore/Virgins.htm|title=For Virgins Only|work=Creature Feature The Weekly Web Program|access-date=December 15, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111220160846/http://countgore.com/gore/Virgins.htm|archive-date=December 20, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> He returned to the D.C. airwaves for a one-time special, ''Countdown with the Count'', on New Year's Eve 1999.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}} '''Count Gore de Vol''' is a television ] who originally appeared on ]'s ] from 1973 to 1987.<ref name=watsonbook>{{cite book| last =Watson| first =Elena M.| title =Television Horror Movie Hosts: 68 Vampires, Mad Scientists and Other Denizens of the Late Night Airwaves Examined and Interviewed| publisher =McFarland & Company| year =2000| location =Jefferson, North Carolina, United States| url =http://www.mcfarlandpub.com/book-2.php?id=978-0-7864-0940-2| isbn =0-7864-0940-1| access-date =2007-08-01| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20070928011709/http://www.mcfarlandpub.com/book-2.php?id=978-0-7864-0940-2| archive-date =2007-09-28| url-status =dead}}</ref> Originally named M.T. Graves and played by announcer ], the character first appeared on the WDCA version of the ] program. When the character got a positive reaction, he was given his own program, called '']''. The choice of Gore de Vol as the character's name was either a pun involving the name of acerbic author ] or the name of a prominent Washington, D.C. funeral home, "de Vol". Gore de Vol became the Washington/Baltimore area's longest-running horror host, broadcast every Saturday night on WDCA from March 1973 to May 1987.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://countgore.com/gore/Virgins.htm|title=For Virgins Only|work=Creature Feature The Weekly Web Program|access-date=December 15, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111220160846/http://countgore.com/gore/Virgins.htm|archive-date=December 20, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> He returned to the D.C. airwaves for a one-time special, ''Countdown with the Count'', on New Year's Eve 1999.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

==Background==
Count Gore de Vol's contribution to the American ] host tradition is significant in a number of ways. As Washington D.C.'s horror host throughout most of the 1970s and 1980s, Gore used the platform to satirize national politics from a local perspective. In the era of the ] and ], Count Gore took frequent shots at the political folly with an ad lib, shoot-from-the-hip style that led local audiences to feel they were part of an '']'' private joke even when the subject was high profile.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}
]

Count Gore's ''Creature Feature'' also embraced the ] of the 1970s, and his guests for the show included several Penthouse Pets. Though he never had an official sidekick, he frequently employed the talents of writer and actress Eleanor Herman in the role of Countess von Stauffenberger. The two played off each other with a series of romantic near misses and sexual innuendos that made the show a success even when many horror hosts were losing their shows in the wake of the original '']''.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

Gore's iconoclastic style surfaced in a number of other ways. He was the first host in America to broadcast an unedited version of '']''. He also began transmitting his own show in ] a week before his station officially made the announcement, making ''Creature Feature'' Washington's first stereo broadcast.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

After a five-year hiatus from the air, Count Gore returned to WDCA 20 in 1984 and a second wave of popularity kept the show a local fixture until new owners canceled all local programing in 1987. During this time, Gore made numerous public appearances with live shows and ] events and received thousands of fan correspondences, making Count Gore one of the most popular figures in the history of D.C. media.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

In 1998, Count Gore de Vol became the first horror host to present a weekly show on the Internet, featuring streaming video of movies and shorts hosted by the Count, and interviews with celebrities.<ref>{{cite news| first = Dan | last = Zak | url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/10/AR2008101002364.html | title = Scared Silly With Count Gore de Vol | date = 2008-10-12}}</ref> Other hosts from around the country also contribute to the program, providing reviews, contests, and other "strange and evil creations". There are also several regular features on the site, from movie and book reviews to monster model building and horror inspired music and video games.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

Count Gore remains busy, as he approaches his 35th year. He is a regular convention guest at ] and the ] in Baltimore and ] in ]. In 2004 he wrote the introduction to the ]' graphic novel ''Aleister Arcane''. In 2006, 2007, and 2008, the Count made appearances in Northern Virginia on the new live television and Internet program '']'', starring "]", a.k.a. Jerry Moore. In October 2006 and 2007 he hosted the opening nights for the horror film fest ] in ]. He is featured alongside fellow horror hosts in the documentary, '']'' (2006), which screened at the 2007 ]. Count Gore also hosted the costume contests at the horror/sci-fi convention Pensacon (Pensacola, Florida) in 2014 and 2015.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}


== See also == == See also ==

Revision as of 22:33, 9 April 2024

Count Gore de Vol
Dick Dyszel in his "Count Gore de Vol" alter ego
NationalityAmerican
Other namesDick Dyszel
Occupation(s)Television personality, interviewer
WebsiteWebsite of Dick Dyszel and Count Gore de VolWebsite

Count Gore de Vol is a television horror host who originally appeared on Washington, D.C.'s WDCA from 1973 to 1987. Originally named M.T. Graves and played by announcer Dick Dyszel, the character first appeared on the WDCA version of the Bozo the Clown program. When the character got a positive reaction, he was given his own program, called Creature Feature. The choice of Gore de Vol as the character's name was either a pun involving the name of acerbic author Gore Vidal or the name of a prominent Washington, D.C. funeral home, "de Vol". Gore de Vol became the Washington/Baltimore area's longest-running horror host, broadcast every Saturday night on WDCA from March 1973 to May 1987. He returned to the D.C. airwaves for a one-time special, Countdown with the Count, on New Year's Eve 1999.

See also

References

  1. Watson, Elena M. (2000). Television Horror Movie Hosts: 68 Vampires, Mad Scientists and Other Denizens of the Late Night Airwaves Examined and Interviewed. Jefferson, North Carolina, United States: McFarland & Company. ISBN 0-7864-0940-1. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved August 1, 2007.
  2. "For Virgins Only". Creature Feature The Weekly Web Program. Archived from the original on December 20, 2011. Retrieved December 15, 2011.

External links

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