Horror movie fans say goodbye at Bill Bowman’s celebration of life

PETERSBURG, Va. (WRIC) – Dozens of fans, friends and family members of Bill Bowman gathered at Old Towne Civic Center on Sunday, Oct. 20 for the Bowman Body’s celebration of life.

“You were never a stranger to Bill,” said friend and organizer Helen Royea. “You were always family to him, and that’s just who Bill was. He treated everyone like his friend.”

Bowman hosted Shock Theatre on Channel 8 for six years in the 1970s, where he performed many improv skits as “the Bowman Body” — a name that people from across state borders came to know and love.

“Bill always said ‘You know when I’m gone, it won’t be a big deal. Nobody’s even going to know that I’m gone,'”Royea shared. “But Bill had no idea how how many people he actually affected, how many people’s lives he touched in all the years,” Royea said.

Bowman’s show became so popular, it would beat the ratings of Johnny’s Carson’s show most Fridays on Channel 8, which was formerly WXEX.

The celebration was from 3 to 7 p.m., and it gave space for fans to share their favorite Bowman memories, as well as listen to new ones. Royea said nobody knew Bowman like his granddaughter, Casey Miles-Bowman.

“I was lucky enough to call him my father,” Miles-Bowman said. “The person you saw on stage, behind all that makeup. That’s exactly who he was.”

Miles-Bowman grew up very close to her grandparents — she said she didn’t realize until later on in life what a big impact her grandfather had.

“One of my earlier memories of him is when we would dress up and go trick or treating, and oh my goodness I was like chopped liver,” she said. “But eventually it finally got to the point I was in my twenties and I said ‘There’s another person coming to see you, Daddy. That’s how special you are. You gave them confidence, you gave them the memories,’ and that’s just so unheard of.”

She said her grandfather was exactly like the character thousands of fans knew and loved.

“He was a fly by the seat of your pants kind of guy, he was kind of a dicey guy in the sense of preparedness he was a winging it fiend,” Miles-Bowman said. “He was phenomenal at it though and he always found a way to rein it in so it was so approachable and personable.”

Here is a trailer for a documentary made about Bowman in 2011, and more clips from Shock Theater can be found at this link.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WRIC ABC 8News.