Criswell was flamboyant, with spit curled hair, a stentorian style of speaking, and a sequined tuxedo. He owned a coffin in which he claimed to sleep. He grew up in a troubled family in Indiana with relatives who owned a funeral home, and frequently stated he became comfortable with sleeping in caskets in the storeroom.
He appeared in two films directed by Ed Wood—Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957) and Night of the Ghouls (1959)—and also appeared in Orgy of the Dead (1965), which was written by Wood.Criswell said he had once worked as a radio announcer and news broadcaster. He began buying time on a local Los Angeles television station in the early 1950s to run infomercials for his Criswell Family Vitamins. To fill the time, he began his "Criswell Predicts" part of the show. This made him a minor off-beat celebrity in Los Angeles and around Hollywood, and his friendship with old show-business people such as Mae West and rising fringe celebrities such as Korla Pandit made Criswell an entertaining presence at parties. His fame brought him appearances on Tonight Starring Jack Paar (1957–1962). Criswell married a former speakeasy dancer named Halo Meadows, who once appeared on You Bet Your Life, and whom Coulombe describes as "quite mad": "Mrs Criswell had a huge standard poodle (named "Buttercup") which she was convinced was the reincarnation of her cousin Thomas. She spent a great deal of time sunbathing ... which, given her size, was not too pleasing a sight." Mae West used Criswell as her personal psychic; he once predicted her rise to President of the United States, whereupon she, Criswell and George Liberace, the brother of showman Liberace, would take a rocket to the Moon Criswell and West were great friends and she would lavish him with home-cooked food which she had delivered to the studio that he shared with Maila Nurmi ("Vampira"). It is said that West sold Criswell her old luxury cars for five dollars. In 1955, Mae West wrote and recorded a song called "Criswell Predicts" for her album The Fabulous Mae West. In 2009, a teaser trailer was released by Darkstone Entertainment for the John Johnson film Plan 9, a remake of Plan 9 From Outer Space. The voice of popular television horror host Mr. Lobo can be heard narrating the trailer as Criswell. He also portrayed Criswell in the film, in a much larger role in this re-imagining of the original Ed Wood story. In addition, for the purpose of promoting the film on the internet, Mr. Lobo has produced 62 episodes of Criswell Predicts! which is a parody and homage to Criswell's original television program of the same name sans the exclamation mark.