LAKE BUTLER, Fla. — Edward Muscare, known to 1970’s and ’80s late-night television viewers in Kansas City as “Uncle Ed” and who was later convicted of molesting a teen boy, died over the weekend in a Florida jail. He was 79.
Muscare, a New York City native, hosted a number of late-night horror movie and kid’s programs on KSHB-TV (then known as KBMA-TV) under the name “Uncle Ed,” and was known for corny gags such as using a banana as a telephone. He left Kansas City for Florida in the mid-1980’s.
In 1986, Muscare was convicted of fondling a 14-year-old boy at a family gathering in Orlando, Florida, and was sentenced to 18-months in prison and 10 years of probation.
In his later years, Muscare became a YouTube sensation, posting surreal comedy videos under the pseudonym “Edarem.” He found himself in legal trouble again in 2007 after moving to South Carolina, where he failed to notify local authorities about his status as a former sex offender.
In 2009, he was placed on probation for failing to register as a sex offender in South Carolina, and was forbidden from owning a computer.
Muscare was arrested again in 2010 after authorities say he violated his probation by having friends post videos of him to his YouTube account for him. He was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison.
In a YouTube post, Muscare’s wife, Marion, said that Muscare died in jail on Sunday of lung cancer.