Rich Koz

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Rich Koz (born 1952) is a Chicago area actor and broadcaster best known as Svengoolie. 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 show. Bishop subsequently invited Koz onto the show. When the show was cancelled in 1973, Bishop & 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 he left for San Diego in 1978, Bishop gave Koz permission to create a show known as Son of Svengoolie, now simply known as Svengoolie.

In June of 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 canceled 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 "the Koz Zone", 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.) 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 4th of July and New Year's Eve programming, and became weekend and fill-in weather anchor for Fox 32 news.

In 1995, Koz came back on the air as part of the launch team for newly independent station WCIU-TV, Ch. 26. He became "Svengoolie" (after Jerry G. Bishop told him he could drop the "Son of" because he "was all grown up now") and resumed weekly horror movie shows, along with numerous other duties. Koz is now well-known and well-regarded in the Chicago area, having won numerous regional Emmy awards and having been admitted to the NATAS/Emmy "Silver Circle" for "outstanding contributions to Chicago television." He is also the host of the Three Stooges' "Stooge-A-Palooza" program on both WCIU and a number of other stations, and does numerous personal appearances in the Chicago area.

In his "Son of Svengoolie" persona, Rich Koz is also known for the early 80s 3D broadcast of Revenge of the Creature (the sequel to Creature from the Black Lagoon) that resulted in a civil action lawsuit by people who felt they didn't get enough 3D for the 89 cents they laid out for the cardboard glasses. Rumors that the broadcast included an accidental pornographic image are totally false.