# "Chilly Billy" has died. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 28, 2016, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chilly-billy-has-died/761125 "2016-07-28T18:16:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chilly-billy-has-died/761125/1 "2016-07-28T18:16:09Z")
I’m sure most Pittsburgh area Dopers remember [Bill “Chilly Billy” Cardille](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Cardille). He was an on-air personality for WIIC (now WPXI) channel 11. I remember when I was a kid watching wrestlers like Bruno Sammartino and Gorilla Monsoon on [Studio Wrestling](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studio_Wrestling) on Saturday nights, which was hosted by Cardille. But he was probably most famous as host of [Chiller Theatre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiller_Theatre_(Pittsburgh)), which ran late Saturday nights and featured a castle set. Cardille, looking dapper in a tuxedo, would set up a showing of two horror or sci-fi features and would feature skits before and after commercials and between movies, assisted by the lovely [Terminal Stare](http://www.sinisterspace.com/file/pic/gallery/19790.jpg), who never spoke, but exuded a smoldering sensuality. In fact, _Chiller Theatre_ was so popular that when _Saturday Night Live_ premiered in 1975, the station, an NBC affiliate, declined to carry it during its first four years. Cardille remained active in Pittsburgh broadcasting until 2014. He passed away last Thursday, July 21, aged 87. R.I.P. “Chilly Billy” 1928-2016 ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chilly-billy-has-died/761125/2 "2016-07-28T19:15:50Z")
I remember Chilly Billy. I grew upon the Pittsburgh area and he was my childhood interaction to horror films. Every Saturday night I’d stay up to watch (most of) the first monster/horror flick. It wasn’t until I got into my teens that I could stay up for the second feature. Interesting that you note SNL. I remember seeing an ad for it, with George Carlin as host (so yes, this was the first SNL episode) airing only on channel 6. Channel 6 was also an NBC affiliate, but out of Johnstown, PA. Where my family lived we got channel 11 (the Pittsburgh NBC affiliate) and also channel 6. I was able to watch that first SNL and became addicted to it! I stopped watching Chiller Theater because of that, but will always have fond memories of the show and host. R.I.P. Bill Cardille BTW, if any of you have ever seen George Romero’s original\*\*\* “Night of the Living Dead” \*\*\*Bill Cardille plays the news reporter. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chilly-billy-has-died/761125/3 "2016-07-28T20:02:18Z")
I grew up in Johnstown. We had an aerial on our roof and could pick up most Pittsburgh stations clearly. Channel 11 came in a bit snowy, but we always watched _Studio Wrestling_ and _Chiller Theater_ on Saturday nights. Cardille also appeared in both the original version and the remake of George Romero’s _Night of the Living Dead_. His daughter Lori had a leading role in _Day of the Dead_. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chilly-billy-has-died/761125/4 "2016-07-28T20:57:16Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > (snip) In fact, _Chiller Theatre_ was so popular that when _Saturday Night Live_ premiered in 1975, the station, an NBC affiliate, declined to carry it during its first four years. I remember him imploring viewers to eschew “Saturday Night Live”, and "tune in here - for “Saturday Night _Dead_”! ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chilly-billy-has-died/761125/5 "2016-07-28T21:13:31Z")
I was going to post about this when I heard about it a few days ago. As a young boy, I had a love of horror and sci-fi movies. Back then, we had maybe 4 or 5 TV stations, 2 of them being UHF. Weekend TV revolved around cheesy sci-fi and horror, and Chiller Theater was a highlight. One of the few happy memories I had of my father was watching Chilly Billy together with a bowl of Jiffy-Pop popcorn. The only time I ever skipped a class was when I went to see Lori Cardille in, “Day of the Dead.” ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chilly-billy-has-died/761125/6 "2016-07-28T21:28:53Z")
Wow, that takes me back. Grew up in Johnstown in the mid-60s. My parents refused to get a rooftop antenna, so we couldn’t get any of the Pittsburgh stations, with much sullen resentment from the kids. We had cousins who lived in Pittsburgh area, however, and the parents would ship us off there for a couple weeks every summer, enabling us to briefly revel in the glory that was _Studio Wrestling_ and _Chiller Theater_. BTW, Bruno Sammartino had a house in the North Hills area, a couple blocks from where the cousins lived. We’d go past there, hoping we’d see him out mowing the lawn or something, but never did. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chilly-billy-has-died/761125/7 "2016-07-28T21:37:18Z")
Makes me think we should have had a thread when [Tom Peterson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Peterson) died the other day. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chilly-billy-has-died/761125/8 "2016-07-28T21:56:04Z")
> [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](#): > > BTW, if any of you have ever seen George Romero’s original\*\*\* “Night of the Living Dead” \*\*\*Bill Cardille plays the news reporter. I recognized his name in the credits, but never knew what part he played. I figured him for a zombie. On the west coast, we had Bob Wilkens do the _Creature Feature_ on Saturday night. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2016, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chilly-billy-has-died/761125/9 "2016-07-28T22:22:45Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > I remember him imploring viewers to eschew “Saturday Night Live”, and "tune in here - for “Saturday Night _Dead_”! If I may correct myself, I believe that was after WIIC had pushed Chiller Theater back to 1:00, and started showing SNL from 11:30-1:00. So the tagline would have been, "So tune in here, after “Saturday Night Live” - for "Saturday Night _Dead!"_ ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chilly-billy-has-died/761125/10 "2016-07-29T16:57:32Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > BTW, Bruno Sammartino had a house in the North Hills area, a couple blocks from where the cousins lived. We’d go past there, hoping we’d see him out mowing the lawn or something, but never did. I met Bruno ten years ago. He was working on an idea to release a “highlight” reel of Studio Wrestling on DVD. He was a pretty cool guy. I don’t think his idea panned out, though. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2016, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chilly-billy-has-died/761125/11 "2016-07-30T00:20:50Z")
Even though Mr. Cardille was basically playing himself in the original _NoLD_, he was far and away the best acted role in the film–he was a natural. I wouldn’t be surprised if he improvised his lines.