After he earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and religion from American University, Mr. He was smitten with broadcasting from the time he was a boy, and at 16 he became a $12-a-week page at WRC-TV. was born on March 7, 1934, in Alexandria, Va. The son of Willard Herman Scott, an insurance salesman, and Thelma (Phillips) Scott, a telephone operator, Willard Herman Scott Jr. Scott’s days at WRC: “He was pushing a shopping cart in a Virginia supermarket recently when a little old lady charged by and smacked him with her umbrella. Then again, as The Boston Globe reported in 1975, there was this incident, from Mr. Scott, broadcasting from the sidelines, and plant an impromptu kiss on his cheek. ![]() In January 1989, the country’s new first lady, Barbara Bush, broke ranks from the inaugural parade for her husband, George H.W. (Among them, the 1987 article in The Times reported, was “an airplane built out of Diet Coke cans.”) Some adored him, inundating him with gifts, which he might display on the air. Scott’s onscreen persona - by his own account little different from his offscreen persona - divided viewers. “A huckster for all seasons,” The New York Times called him in 1987. The concerns he endorsed included Howard Johnson Motor Lodges, True Value Hardware, Burger King, Lipton tea, Maxwell House coffee, the American Dairy Association, the Florida Citrus Commission, Diet Coke, USA Today and many others. The only scientific asset one actually needed, he pointed out, was the telephone number of the National Weather Service.Ī frequent guest on late-night TV, he was a spokesman for a range of charitable causes and a commercial pitchman with wide television exposure - too wide, some critics maintained. But as he readily acknowledged, the weatherman’s job as reconstructed for the postmodern age did not require any. Scott, who began his career in radio before becoming a weatherman at WRC-TV, an NBC affiliate in Washington, had no background in meteorology or any allied science. The pig did not take kindly to being kissed and squealed mightily. There was the time, reporting from an outdoor event, that he kissed a pig on camera. There was the time he did so dressed as Carmen Miranda, the “Brazilian bombshell” of an earlier era, dancing before the weather map in high heels, ruffled pink gown, copious jewelry and vast fruited hat. There was the time, for instance, that he delivered the forecast dressed as Boy George. He seemed simultaneously to embody the jovial, backslapping Rotarian of the mid-20th century, the midway barker of the 19th and, in the opinion of at least some critics, the court jester of the Middle Ages. Scott brought to the job a brand of shtick that harked back to earlier times. Though he was meant to represent the new, late-model television weatherman, Mr. Scott went on to sport a string of outré outfits, spout a cornucopia of cornpone humor and wish happy birthday to a spate of American centenarians, all while talking about the forecast every so often, until his retirement in 2015. ![]() “I look forward to forecasting the weather for our nation’s capital and having the opportunity to explain the ‘why’ behind each forecast, so we can make weather approachable and exciting to our viewers,” said Anderson.Joining “Today” that March, Mr. and a weekend weather anchor and MMJ for KRTV-KXLH in Helena, Mont. Before that, she was a meteorologist for KOIN in Portland, Ore., a weather anchor and reporter for KCOY-KKFX in Santa Barbara, Calif. Her weather forecasting is clear and easy to understand, which will make her a great addition to ‘Fox5 Morning’ and ‘Good Day DC.’”īefore joining WTTG in 2014, Thomas worked for the Commodity Weather Group in Bethesda, Maryland where he focused on learning forecast techniques, weather model analysis, and extended range and seasonal forecasting.Īnderson most recently worked as a meteorologist for KIRO in Seattle. Our viewers know that if there’s a storm coming they can rely on his forecasts at any time of day, whether he’s on TV, streaming live on digital or posting on social media,” said vice president and news director Paul McGonagle “Claire has a dynamite personality. She’ll also report on various topics for Fox 5 Morning and Good Day DC. Anderson will join the station on April 18 to work the 4 to 6 a.m. Thomas moves from mornings to the 5, 6:30, 10 and 11 p.m. Fox station WTTG has promoted Mike Thomas to evening meteorologist and has added Claire Anderson to replace him on the mornings.
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