Tucson TV pioneer Jack Jacobson, perhaps best known for his weekly portrayal of KGUN-TV horror movie host “Dr. Scar” in the 1960s, died Monday. He was 87.
“He was the ultimate ham,” said friend Ray Lindstrom. “He never met a camera he didn’t like.”
Jacobson, a member of the Arizona Broadcasters Hall of Fame, began his career when he was 8years old on the “Uncle Bob Pierce and Company” radio show in Rochester, N.Y. The year was 1929.
As a teen he worked as a comic in New York City night clubs before enlisting in the Army Air Corps in 1942.
But even World War II didn’t keep Jacobson from his true calling. He fought the Nazis with laughs as a comic in the Sky Blazers, a Combat Special Services entertainment unit.
Jacobson’s troupe toured North Africa, the Middle East and England and were among the first entertainers to land in Europe after the D-Day invasion. He would later recall that performances would sometimes be interrupted by enemy bombs.
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“He knew how to perform in any situation,” Lindstrom said.
Jacobson was awarded the Bronze Star for his service during the war. “Introducing the Sky Blazers,” a book he wrote about his wartime experiences, will be published in June.
After returning to the U.S., Jacobson started a career in TV. In 1962 he was hired as program and promotion manager for KGUN-TV in Tucson.
Lindstrom, who was working at the station as an announcer while going to school at the University of Arizona, said he looked up to Jacobson.
“To me he was an old man, a real pro,” Lindstrom said.
His signature character, the “kindly, lovable” Dr. Scar, gained a cult following hosting KGUN’s weekly horror-movie show, “Chiller”
Jacobson would slather himself in stage makeup and ham it up, climbing out of coffins and telling dark jokes.
“He was probably as close a thing to somebody who had roots in vaudeville than anyone I’ve known,” said Bob Lee, Community Relations Coordinator for KMSB-TV.
Funeral Plans
Visitation will be held Friday from 7 - 9 p.m. at Bring’s Funeral Home, 6910 E. Broadway. Rosary will be said at 8 p.m.
The funeral Mass will be celebrated Saturday at 11 a.m. at St. Francis de Sales Parish, 1375 S. Camino Seco.
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