A Special Night of Creature Features
A TRIBUTE TO BOB WILKINS

Thursday night (3/22/07) at the Cerrito Speakeasy Theater was a special night indeed, as a packed house of CREATURE FEATURE fans turned out to pay tribute to original host and Bay Area TV legend Bob Wilkins!

The evening kicked off with a special poetic history of Bob Wilkins, as recited via video by John Stanley. This was shot at the Broadcast Legends' luncheon in Emeryville (9/23/02) as part of their CREATURE FEATURES Tribute Luncheon. As the familiar themesong faded out with "the creature's gonna get you tonight!" Will Viharo took the stage to pay tribute to Bob and introduce the evening's host, Mr. Lobo.

After a brief open and background of Bob, a 15-minute video of The Best of Bob Wilkins played to a nostalgic crowd of fans. Clips of Bob from Sacramento's 7 ARTS THEATER, CREATURE FEATURES and KTVU's CAPTAIN COSMIC had the audience in the right mood for the evening.

At this point, BAFE's Bob Johnson took the stage to read a proclamation from Mayor Ron Dellums, making March 23, 2007 "Bob Wilkins Day" in the city of Oakland in recognition of Mr. Wilkins' career and influence on local television and some of Hollywood's biggest names, including George Lucas. The proclamation was presented to Bob's wife, Sally Wilkins, how graciously thanked everyone for coming out and spoke about the Alzheimer's Society, the fight against the disease and how everyone could help Bob and others like him.

With business concluded, it was time for the guests! Mr. Lobo lead a panel of former CREATURE FEATURES co-horts of Bob's. The first was John Stanley, the successor to the CREATURE FEATURES thrown and current author of the book, "I Was a TV Horror Movie Host". Next up was Bob Shaw, who is now KTVU's Entertainment Reporter, but was the $25.00-a-month producer of CREATURE FEATURES and Bob's right hand man with movie facts and knowledge. Last, but not least, was Bill Longen, Events Coordinator at San Francisco's Castro Theatre and the film editor at KTVU in the days of both CREATURE FEATURES and CAPT. COSMIC.

John started off with a story about meeting Ray Bradbury and discovering one's sense of wonder, the reason we were all there that night. A clip of John's speech can be seen on You Tube at this link. Bob Shaw and Bill Longen both told their stories of the olden days at channel 2 and then all three took their seats on stage with Mr. Lobo to discuss Bob Wilkins, CREATURE FEATURES, working in local television in the days when stations produced more than just the news and took questions from the audience.

This was followed by an amazing 16mm reel, which contained 45 minutes of VERY rare clips from Bob's early career from the collection of Tom Wyrsch. Included in the reel were interviews with such luminaries as Boris Karloff (the last one done before his death), Jack Benny, Milton Berle, William Shatner, George Takei, James Doohan, Darth Vader and more. Also featured in the clips were Harry Martin, Gary Owens, Jim Nabors, Ray Harryhausen, Roy Thinnes and others.

After the clips, Mr. Lobo returned to the stage to recap the evening, relay the Wilkins family's request for donations to be made to the Alzheimer's Aid Society of Northern California (which can be earmarked for Bob's care - please see address below) and to announce Scott Moon's drive for fans to send birthday cards to Bob Wilkins for his 75th birthday on April 11 (link at the end of this blog entry).

And then, with the aid of the Cinsomniac's Oath, the screen was filled with castaways, a deserted island and walking, laughing mushrooms in the first film Bob ever hosted back in 1966 on KCRA in Sacramento, ATTACK OF THE MUSHROOM PEOPLE (MATANGO).

In the meantime, donations to help with Bob's care can be sent to the following address. Please mark on the payment, "For the Care of Bob Wilkins".

 Alzheimers Aid Society of Northern California
      P.O. Box 1824
      Sacramento, CA
      95825