Rich Koz

Rich Koz
Koz in character as Svengoolie
Born	Richard Koz (1952-03-12) March 12, 1952 (age 64) Park Ridge, Illinois, USA
Years active	1972–current

Rich Koz (born March 12, 1952) is a Chicago area actor and broadcaster best known as horror-movie host Svengoolie. Out of costume, he is also the knowledgeable host of the syndicated The Three Stooges Stooge-a-Palooza program.

Koz got his start in broadcasting at WMTH-FM, the high school radio station at Maine East in Park Ridge, Illinois. While Koz was at Northwestern University, he sent the original Svengoolie, Jerry G. Bishop, material for the horror-movie program. Bishop subsequently invited Koz on to the show. When the show was cancelled in 1973, Bishop and Koz worked together doing mornings on WMAQ radio in Chicago, and Koz worked with radio legend Dick Orkin on commercials and syndicated features, including "ChickenMan Returns for the Last Time Again." When Bishop left for San Diego in 1978, he gave Koz permission to create a show known as Son of Svengoolie, now simply known as Svengoolie. (The character is often known simply as "Sven.")

In June 1979, on WFLD-TV Ch. 32, Koz began as Son of Svengoolie, winning numerous local Emmy awards, and having his show syndicated to Philadelphia, Detroit, Boston, and San Francisco for a brief period. In 1986, after the station was acquired by the News Corporation, WFLD cancelled Svengoolie, believing the show not dignified for a network affiliate. Koz did some freelance radio, including stints as a fill-in at WGN radio.

From 1989 to 1993, Koz returned to WFLD (now "Fox 32") to host a new hosted movie show where he appeared to be "breaking in" to the Fox signal (a take-off of an actual event where WGN and WTTW had their signals pirated). The show was originally untitled, but viewers were asked to address letters to "Lose Weight by Selling Real Estate, No Money Down" until the show adopted the name The Koz Zone. This show won Koz his next local Emmy, and later became the daily Koz Zone for Kids. Koz also did mornings on WCKG radio for a brief period, co-hosted live 4 July and New Year's Eve programming, and became weekend and fill-in weather anchor for Fox 32 News.