Cleveland's 'The Ghoul' Has Passed Away

CLEVELAND — The man known as "The Ghoul" has passed away.

Ron Sweed, the cult TV icon of Cleveland and Detroit, died on Monday night. He was 70.

According to his ex-wife, Sweed suffered a heart attack five months ago and had been battling lasting health repercussions since then.

"It’s with a broken heart I am telling all my family and friends and you wonderful Ghoul fans that Ron Sweed lost his courageous 5 month fight and died last night," Barbara King, Sweed's ex-wife, wrote on social media.

"The Ghoul" made his first appearance on TV in the 1960s, when he came to a filming for Ernie "Ghoulardi" Anderson's show...in a gorilla suit. He later became a production assistant for Anderson, according to WKYC.

He landed his own TV show in 1971 after Anderson moved to Los Angeles. Briefly, Sweed's show was syndicated, hitting markets as far west as San Francisco and as far east as Boston. It was short-lived exposure, but his work continued on the Internet and on the radio. He carved out a niche for himself in both Cleveland and Detroit.