I grew up watching Count Gregore be the villain to 3-D Danny on Foreman Scotty’s afternoon show.

The Count, aka John Ferguson,  was a blood sucking vampire who often had WKY-TV’s Danny Williams in precarious situations.

Dan D. Dynamo, aka 3-D Danny, is folklore at Channel 4. Likewise Count Gregore.

WKY-TV executives didn’t realize they had a real hit on their hands until they canceled “Shock Theater” and numerous complaints came in.

Ferguson had gone to work acting out gunfights at Frontier City but a station official made their way into the theme park to ask Ferguson to resurrect Count Gregore.

The rest is history.

Ferguson had been out in Hollywood seeking his fame and fortune.

While there he studied makeup and met the girl he would marry. She was from Tulsa.

They were headed back to Tulsa when they stopped off in Las Vegas to get hitched.

It was while he was in Tulsa he began to get gigs on radio and television.

The couple moved to Oklahoma City and that’s when his fortune changed. After he got a job announcing on WKY he started creating villain characters opposite 3-D Danny.

He had numerous characters but by far Count Gregore was his biggest hit.

I was attending a journalism Hall of Fame luncheon at UCO a few years ago when the person sitting at our table looked familiar.

Then it clicked.

“Are you Count Gregore,” I asked. He replied that he was John Ferguson who played Count Gregore on TV.

He had some very interesting stories.

I recently read in The Oklahoman where he is retiring at age 94.

He’s been a mainstay in Oklahoma and on Channel 4 for a very long time.