Biography

Jim Petersmith was an American actor and television horror host, born James Robert Petersmith. He developed a varied acting career encompassing television, film and theatre, playing characters ranging from fathers, professors and businessmen to villains, eccentric scientists and other character roles.

Petersmith's unusual place in television horror-host history came in 1979, when he portrayed Professor Gideon, host of Shock Theatre on KGAN-TV Channel 2 in his hometown of Cedar Rapids. The late-night horror program aired on Friday nights following the station's 10:00 p.m. news and ran for approximately thirteen weeks. As Professor Gideon, Petersmith introduced horror and exploitation films and appeared in comedy-horror segments between portions of the featured movie. The Professor was accompanied by a hunchback named Troy and a young experimental subject named Mikey. The program included such films as They Saved Hitler's Brain and became one of Iowa's comparatively short-lived examples of the American television horror-host tradition.

Petersmith subsequently continued acting in theatre and motion pictures. His screen credits included 100 Proof (1997), The Hebrew Hammer (2003) and The Tear (2010), among other productions. His stage career included work at the Actors Theatre of Louisville; in 1991 he appeared in the company's production of William Shakespeare's King Lear, directed by Jon Jory. He also appeared in a 1992 production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Derby Dinner Playhouse.

Petersmith was known as a versatile character actor. His obituary summarized the diversity of his work by noting that over the course of his career he portrayed such characters as a father, professor, banker, truck driver, pit boss, bartender, Johnny Appleseed, evil scientist, ghost, gunslinger, Klingon and cult leader.
- IMDb mini biography by: The Professor