GRIM GHOST (Keith Everet, inhabiting the body of Charles Collins)	BIOGRAPHY
Created by Gardner Fox and Howard Purcell

Grim Ghost; Art by Michael Bair

PERSONAL DATA

Real Name: Keith Everet, inhabiting the body of Charles Collins
Aliases: Gay Ghost
Identity: Secret
Occupation: (as Everet) Earl of Strethmore; (as Collins) playboy, later USAAF pilot
Place of Birth: (as Everet) Ireland (as Collins) probably Gotham City
Citizenship: American (as Collins)
Marital Status: Presumed single through 1945
Known Relatives: (as Everet) unnamed ancestors (all deceased)
Base of Operation: Gotham City, NJ
Group Affiliation(s): All-Star Squadron
Gender: male
Height: 5' 11"
Weight: 189 lbs
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Brown
First Appearance: Sensation Comics #1 (January 1942)
Creators: Gardner Fox and Howard Purcell

OVERVIEW

At the dawn of the eighteenth century, Keith Everet, the Earl of Strethmere, was murdered. His spirit survived, however, and centuries later, when his ancestral castle was visited by the descendant (and possible reincarnation) of his beloved Deborah Wallace. She and her paramour Charles Collins were attacked by Nazi spies and Collins was killed. The spirit of Everet was able to leap into Collins' body to save Deborah and later to carry out many more heroic acts. He was able to separate his spirit from Collins' physical body, which would cause the body to collapse until Everet (known in spectral form as the 'Grim Ghost') returned.

Note: In more innocent times, this character was known as the Gay Ghost.

HISTORY

In England, in the year 1700, the young Earl of Strethmere, Keith Everet, confronted highwaymen (a term for bandits) and as they fought, Everet was killed. Promising to remain on this plane of existence until reunited with his love, Deborah, he was confined to the halls of his castle as a spirit for the next 241 years. During that time, Everet communed with the ghosts and spirits of his ancestors, learning how to manipulate his ectoplasm that comprised his spirit body.

Fearing that he would spend all eternity in the castle, he was confronted with two Americans that took up residence in the castle. One was Deborah, a direct descendant and an exact double for his long-dead love, the other was Charles Collins, a pilot and her boyfriend. The two had come to England during the spring of 1941, to examine the castle that she had inherited. A small band of Nazi spies and saboteurs also wanted the castle to use as their base. Confronting the two Americans, the spies killed Collins and kidnapped Deborah. The ghostly Everett re-animated the body of Charles Collins and using his ghostly abilities, captured the spies. Using the ectoplasm, he converted Collins appearance to his own, thereby hiding his identity. Wanting to be free of the castle, and to win Deborah's hand, Keith Everet took up Charles Collins' identity and began to covertly fight crime back in the United States as The Grim Ghost.

Slowly learning of the new century and of all its trappings, Everet/Collins later joined the US Army Air Corps, and after the War, joined the FBI. It is not known what happened to the pair after 1945.

POWERS AND WEAPONS

As a spectre, The Grim Ghost had many abilities. He could animate and possess the dead body of Charles Collins, and possibly others. Manipulating his ectoplasmic essence, he could change his appearance, fly, go transparent or ethereal and pass through solid objects. Everet was a master swordsman and a very good shot with a cap and ball pistol. As Collins, he relearned his piloting skills and became an above average pilot.

CHRONOLOGY

For a definitive list of appearances of Grim Ghost in chronological order click here

PROFILE REFERENCES

Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #9 (November 1985)