Friday, March 8, 2013

Dick Bennick / Dr. Paul Bearer 1971

Dick Bennick left his position as  promotion manager and host of “Dialing for Dollars” at WGHP in June 1969. Mr. Bennick continued to be on “Shock Theatre” as host Dr. Paul Bearer at the station.
In June 1969 Dick Bennick became the administrative assistant and morning DJ at radio station WAIR.
On Friday April 23, 1971, Mr. Bennick’s  “Gold Leaf Supper Club” in Winston-Salem burned, reported as arson and wiping him out financially. He was still appearing on WGHP as Dr. Paul Bearer and began writing columns for the Greensboro Daily News.
During June of 1971, Dick Bennick became program director and morning DJ at radio station WCOG while continuing to host “Shock Theatre” at WGHP.
On November 12,1971 the Greensboro paper reported that Dick Bennick had moved to Lakeland, Florida to radio station WLAK  but had taped enough episodes of “Shock Theatre” to get WGHP through the end of November. The station said it was hoping to work out a deal where Mr. Bennick could tape his Dr. Paul Bearer segments at a station in Florida and send them to WGHP. I believe this happened or either the station edited previously taped footage to use on the show for awhile longer. I am not sure how much longer the Dr. Paul Bearer segments continued to be a part of “Shock Theatre”.
 
 
 
 

3 comments:

John McElwee said...

Fantastic stuff! Do you happen to know just how long "Shock Theatre" lasted on WGHP, with or without Dick Bennick?

Carroll Hall said...

The last year I have been able to confirm that Shock Theatre was on WGHP is 1981.It could have been later though because between 1963 and 1981, there were periods when it would disappear from the schedule and show up again later.I will keep searching for anything related to Shock Theatre on channel 8.

John McElwee said...

1981 sounds right to me. Thanks for all your diligent research on this topic. I really love your ads for Shock Theatre, and remember some of the bills, particularly the 1970-71 season when they gave the Screen Gems "Shock" package a final run.