Beifuss: So long, Sivad
His old ghoul charm pierced hearts 1962-72; from hospice bed he signed photos for grown fans
By John Beifuss

March 29, 2005
Is it extreme to claim that the late Watson Davis, who portrayed Sivad, the vampiric host of WHBQ-TV's "Fantastic Features" in the 1960s and early '70s, belongs with Sam Phillips, Dewey Phillips, Rufus Thomas, Sputnik Monroe, B.B. King, Larry Finch and Elvis in any pantheon of influential Memphis entertainers and idols?

Unlike Memphis's most famous entertainer, the one also known by a single name, Sivad didn't rock the world. But he rocked my world, and the world of thousands of other kids from every neighborhood in the Mid-South -- black or white, rich or poor -- who spent part of each weekday anticipating the weekend return of Sivad on Channel 13's horror movie showcase, "Fantastic Features."
Davis, a former advertising director for Malco who was much honored by his peers for his clever movie promotions, died Wednesday of cancer in Stuttgart, Ark., where he had lived for many years. He was 92.
He was buried Saturday in Shady Grove Cemetery in Clarendon, Ark.

"To serve someone I've known as a TV personality for all those years was very meaningful," said Bob Neal, 59, of Bob Neal & Sons Funeral Home in Clarendon. He said when he was a kid in Helena, Ark., "We could hardly wait to ... turn on the TV to watch Sivad." Davis's stage name was elegantly simple. Just as Dracula tried to conceal his identity in 1943's "Son of Dracula" by introducing himself as "Count Alucard," "Sivad" was "Davis" spelled backward.
"Some friends and I were talking after we heard about his death, and we can't think of anybody else that was on TV in this area that would have affected as many people as Sivad," said Memphis writer Ron Hall, 54, who discussed the horror host's novelty single "Sivad Buries Rock and Roll" in his book, "Playing for a Piece of the Door: A History of Garage & Frat Bands in Memphis, 1960-1975."

Said Hall: "I know there are a lot of personalities like (former kids' show host) Happy Hal and (sportscaster) Jack Eaton that people have loved over the years, but Sivad would have to be No. 1 -- he'd have to be."
Frayser-reared musican Greg Cartwright of the Oblivians and the Reigning Sound said that for years he has kept an autographed 8-by-10 photo of Sivad in his guitar case, tucked beneath his Gretsch guitar.
"It's a nice reminder of home, and a nice reminder of Memphis culture," said Cartwright, who now lives in Asheville, N.C. "And it's a nice laugh each time I take the guitar out or put it back in."
On "Fantastic Features," Sivad's commercial-break antics were intentionally corny. But each program began with an eerie black-and-white introduction filmed in an uncharacteristically foggy Overton Park in which Sivad -- formally dressed in his trademark Lon Chaney-in-"London After Midnight" ensemble of top hat, cape, medallion, long hair and loose fangs -- rode into view driving a horse-drawn hearse.
Crouching and smiling ghoulishly, Sivad then pulled a coffin from the back of the carriage and lifted the lid. Smoke poured from the casket, followed by a clip from that night's feature.
Thanks in part to spooky theme music lifted from the soundtrack of the 1950 science-fiction classic "Destination Moon," this introduction was scarier for most children than the movies that followed, an oft-repeated rogues' gallery that included such B-pictures as "Teenage Caveman" and "The Astounding She-Monster" as well as (in the early days) such bonafide classics as "The Wolf Man" and "The Thing."

"Fantastic Features" debuted at 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 29, 1962, with "The Giant Behemoth," a 1959 film in which a radioactive dinosaur terrorizes London. The prime-time slot was not without controversy. According to The Commercial Appeal, college fans of the folk music program "Hootenanny," which was pre-empted locally for "Fantastic Features," picketed Channel 13 in protest. "Sivad in turn picketed 'Hootenanny' and the pickets," the newspaper reported.
When WHBQ eventually telecast "Hootenanny" at a different hour, clever Channel 13 producers "cut Sivad's photo into the crowd as the cameras panned the audience of college students who cheered the Limelighters (sic) and other folk groups ..."
Sivad's incredible popularity was demonstrated on June 17, 1963, when his appearance at the Mid-South Fairgrounds drew a crowd that police estimated at 30,000 fans. A week later, 2,000 fans lined up at Goldsmith's, where Sivad signed copies of his novelty record. The crowds demonstrated that Sivad's appeal transcended race in a way that was all but unprecedented in the Mid-South, with the exception of professional wrestling and, in later years, Tiger basketball. To this day, black and white Baby Boomers may disagree about the merits of Elvis or the Ford family, but their eyes light up at the mention of Sivad.

Sivad and his fellow horror hosts -- such as Chicago's "Svengoolie" and Cleveland's "Ghoulardi" -- functioned as spooky godfathers for a generation of kids who built Aurora monster models, read "Famous Monsters of Filmland" magazine and, as adults, continue to collect Sivad memorabilia, obsess over classic horror DVDs and haunt such Web sites as monsterkid.com.
In the days before cable, a program like "Fantastic Features" could reach a huge percentage of the viewing audience, not just in West Tennessee but wherever the Channel 13 signal could be pulled from the sky. According to a 1963 story in The Commercial Appeal, "Fantastic Features" attracted "50 percent of the metropolitan audience from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturdays."
"Fantastic Features" moved to late nights in 1966 and finally ended its 10-year run on Feb. 5, 1972, with "The Human Duplicators." (For a complete "Fantastic Features" chronology compiled by Memphis's Harris M. Lentz III, see myweb.wvnet.edu/e-gor/tv horrorhosts/sivadsho.html).

"Fantastic Features" died due to falling ratings and Davis's declining interest in the rigors of weekly tapings. The old school (old ghoul?) charm of Sivad and his overfamiliar army of giant leeches, teenage werewolves and creeping unknowns couldn't compete with the sexy, bloody terrors of horror's post-"Night of the Living Dead" new wave.
Nevertheless, Davis continued to transform himself into Sivad for the amusement of Arkansas trick-or-treaters each Halloween until about four years ago, said one of his four surviving children, Beverly Ideker of Stuttgart.
"Right up to the end, when he went to hospice care and he was pretty much stuck in his bed, we took a bunch of photographs of Sivad and he'd autograph them for the nurses and doctors, and they all loved him," Ideker said. "He was the sweetheart of the nursing home."

Ideker said she owns Davis's Sivad oufit, including "his wig, eyebrows, his teeth he put in, three different hats and his musical instruments," including his homemade "ghoulaphone" and "coffinola." She said she hopes to be able to display them in a museum or exhibit some day.
Cartwright said Davis's death marks the end of an era. "It's sad, because it makes you think of all the awesome things about local television that are gone now. Early movies, late-night movies, all the things that pretty much gave television its flavor are gone, and now he's gone, too."

Those wishing to express condolences or appreciation to the family of Watson Davis are invitied to write his wife of 32 years, Mabel Davis at 1002 N. College, Stuttgart, Ark., 72160.
-- John Beifuss: 529-2394
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