Bill "Chilly Billy" Cardille
| Bill Cardille | |
|---|---|
| Born |
William Robert Cardille December 10, 1928 Farrell, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | July 21, 2016 (aged 87) McCandless, Pennsylvania |
| Cause of death | Cancer |
| Occupation | Broadcast Personality |
| Years active | 1957–2016 |
| Spouse(s) | Louise Maras (m. 1953) |
| Children | 3 |
William Robert "Bill" Cardille (December 10, 1928 – July 21, 2016), also known as Chilly Billy, was an American broadcast personality from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Born in Farrell, Pennsylvania, Cardille was the son of Mr. and Mrs. William Cardille of Sharon, Pennsylvania. He was a 1947 graduate of Sharon High School. He majored in English and speech at State Teachers College at Indiana in Indiana, Pennsylvania, where he played varsity tennis and basketball.
Cardille had a nightly record program on WDAD radio in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, in 1951. He first worked in television at WICU in Erie, Pennsylvania, beginning January 19, 1952. He was for many years a fixture on Channel 11 (formerly call letters WIIC, now WPXI), the NBC affiliate in Pittsburgh, and was the first voice heard when WIIC went on the air on September 1, 1957.
Bill was a pitchman for Koehler Beer, starring in various roles, baseball umpire, etc. in numerous TV commercials for Uncle Jackson's brews.
After years of hosting many other local shows on WIIC (at a time where local stations often produced a significant amount of local programming), Cardille became host of the show for which he is probably best known: Chiller Theatre, a late night Saturday program that showed horror and science fiction films. The show earned him his nickname "Chilly Billy." Unlike some horror movie hosts, Cardille did not take on the persona of a horror movie styled character. "Chilly Billy" was an extension of his own personalty. Wry, wisecracking and conversational, Cardille went as much for a light comedic feel as he did presenting the movies. The program aired from 1964 until its cancellation in 1983, and had been so popular it kept Saturday Night Live off the air in Pittsburgh for five years.Joe Flaherty, a Pittsburgh native, acknowledges this show as an influence in the creation of the popular "Monster Chiller Horror Theatre" sketches on SCTV. Flaherty's Count Floyd, however, was a comedic variation on Bela Lugosi's Dracula, forever frustrated his horror films were never particularly frightening.
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