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Who is Rich Koz?
Rich Koz is an American actor and television show host, who is best known to the world as Svengoolie in the TV show “Son of Svengoolie”, which first aired from 1978 to 1982. and then starting again in 1995 under the name “Svengoolie”, among numerous other contributions to the show business industry.
Rich Koz Wiki- Age, Childhood, and Education
Born Richard Koz on the 12th March 1952, in Park Ridge, Illinois USA, he hasn’t shared anything from his childhood, not even the names of his parents. After high school, he enrolled at Northwestern University, from which he obtained a degree in communications.
Today at 11A watch the 1955 horror film, Creature with the Atom Brain, with @Svengoolie on The U! #Svengoolie pic.twitter.com/2hqo0iwUBy
— WCIU, The U (@wciu) August 15, 2020
Career Start
Rich began his career on the high school radio station, WMTH-FM at Maine East in his hometown. After a while, he attracted the attention of Jerry G. Bishop, the original Svengoolie, and the host of the show “Screaming Yellow Theatre”. Rich began sending content for the show, and in a short period, he was officially called up to the show. A great honor, Rich took every chance that came his way, and they worked together on the show until it was canceled in 1973.
Nevertheless, this didn’t cut the rope on their collaboration, as the two started working on their own show, aired in the mornings on WMAQ radio in Chicago.
Furthermore, Rich also began working on commercials and syndicated features with Dick Orkin, a radio legend, such as “Chicken Man Returns for the Last Time Again”.
His colleague Bishop left Chicago for San Diego in 1978, but before leaving, he made a deal with Rich so that the latter could start his own show “Son of Svengoolie”. The show made its debut in 1979 on WFLD-TV, and in its first stint lasted until 1986. During the years that it aired, the show won Rich a bunch of local Emmy awards, and it was syndicated to Philadelphia, Boston, Detroit and San Francisco as well.
However, when ownership of the station changed, Rich Koz was removed from the program by the new owner was Rupert Murdoch and his subsidiary Fox News.
“The Koz Zone”
Three years later, Rich returned to WFLD, which is now Fox 32, but under the new name and new show. At first, they didn’t have a name for the new creation, but those fans who wanted to send letters were told to send to “Lose Weight by Selling Real Estate, No Money Down”. The show featured cartoons, with Koz the host of the show, and doing sketch comedy items that would be played in the middle of the cartoon.
The show eventually became known as “Koz Zone for Kids”, winning Rich his next local Emmy award. In addition, he was the host of the morning show on WCKG radio, and did live co-hosting of 4th July and New Year’s Eve programming, while also being hired as the weekend and fill-in weather anchor for Fox 32 News.
Rise to Prominence
Svengoolie returned to the screen in 1995, and Rich was selected as one of the faces of the independent station WCIU-TV, channel 26.
Before launching the show, he received permission by the original Svengoolie, Jerry G. Bishop to start using the name “Svengoolie”. The show continued in its old format – Rich would air horror and sci-fi films of B production, and while airing he would make comedic comments and offer trivia related to the film. He was becoming more popular with every new show, winning regional Emmy awards, while he has also been admitted to the NATAS/Emmy “Siler Circle” for “outstanding contributions to Chicago television.
Some of the films that he aired and which helped him reach the stardom he enjoys today, are “Creature from the Black Lagoon” from 1954, “Revenge of the Creature” (1955), “Creature with the Atom Brain” (1955), “The Birds” (1963), among many others. In addition to Emmy awards, he also has eight Rondo Statuette Awards, won for being the Favorite Horror Host, and given by the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards. Since the first episode on WCIU-TV, Rich has hosted over 165 episodes, and from 2011 onwards, his show has also aired on the popular MeTV classic TV network, which has only further increased his popularity.
Rich Koz Net Worth, Height, Weight, and Appearance
Rich Koz has been a successful TV show host, and is one of the legends in the horror genre. His net worth has increased by a large margin, and according to sources, Rich Koz’s wealth is estimated to be around $3 million, as of mid- 2020.
Rich stands at 6ft (1.85m) tall, but his weight is unknown in the media. His eyes are brown and he has dark brown hair.
Rich Koz Personal Life, Marriage, Wife, Children
Rich, although continuously on the small screens, hasn’t talked much about his personal life, but he has rather been focused on his work. However, it is known that he has a wife, though he has never revealed her name.
She was the one that saved him in 2012 when he had a heart attack; she called the paramedics and he was rushed to the hospital and eventually came out after a bypass, having initially been reviewed. He had suffered his first heart attack in 2002, but had returned to work in just two months.
Rich Koz Legacy
Rich has become a Chicago Legend, and in addition to being awarded Silver Circle, he is celebrated every Halloween from 2014 onwards in Chicago, since the state of Illinois and city of Chicago declared it Rich Koz/Svengoolie Day. Furthermore, he was honored by the Museum of Broadcast Communications in 2019.
