He played many roles for decades on radio and television
Willard Herman Scott Jr. (March
7, 1934 – September 4, 2021) was an American weather presenter, radio and TV
personality, actor, narrator, clown, comedian, and author, with a career
spanning 65 years, he best known for his television work on the Today show
as weather reporter and also presented a tribute greetings segment
for people celebrating there 100th or above birthdays, He was the creator and original portrayer of Ronald
McDonald.
Early Years
Scott was born in Alexandria, Virginia,
to parents Willard Herman Scott and Thelma Phillips on March 7, 1934, and
attended George Washington High School. He
showed an interest in broadcasting as a 16-year-old, working in 1950 as an NBC
page at WRC (AM), NBC's owned-and-operated radio station in Washington, D.C. Scott then attended American University,
where he worked alongside fellow student Ed Walker at WAMU-AM, the university's
radio station (1951–1953). Scott became a member of Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity
while at American University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts 1degree in
philosophy and religion.
Willard Scott’s Career
Joy Boys radio
show
From 1955 to 1972, Scott teamed with Ed
Walker as co-host of the nightly Joy Boys radio program on NBC-owned WRC
radio (this was interrupted from 1956 to 1958 when Scott served on active duty
with the U.S. Navy). Scott routinely sketched a list of characters and a few
lead lines setting up a situation, which Walker would commit to memory or make
notes on with his Braille typewriter (Walker was blind since birth). In a 1999
article recalling the Joy Boys at the height of their
popularity in the mid-1960s, The Washington Post said they "dominated Washington, providing entertainment,
companionship, and community to a city on the verge of powerful change". The Joy Boys show played on
WRC until 1972 when they moved to cross-town station WWDC for another two
years. Scott wrote in his book, The Joy of Living, of their close
professional and personal bond which continued until Walker's death in October
2015, saying that they are "closer than most brothers".
Washington, D.C., TV roles
Scott spent the 1960s balancing his
radio career with jobs as the host of children's television programs. He
appeared on WRC Radio's sister station, WRC-TV, playing
characters such as Commander Retro and Bozo the Clown.
In 1970, Scott began appearing on WRC-TV as a weekday weatherman.
Ronald McDonald character
Another TV role he performed regularly
from 1963 to 1966 and occasionally as late as 1971 was Ronald McDonald for the McDonald's
franchise in Washington, D.C. Scott
wrote in his book The Joy of Living that he originally created
the Ronald McDonald character at the local franchise's request, which had also
sponsored the Bozo the Clown show on which he portrayed Bozo.
In his book Fast Food Nation, Eric
Schlosser claims that McDonald's replaced Scott on account of his weight,
supposedly concerned about McDonald's image.
Scott denied the claims and cited other commitments he had at the time.
NASA
Scott worked as the narrator for NASA's
weekly program called "The Space Story", with his contributions
spanning from the Apollo Program to the Space Shuttle.
The Today Show
Scott was tapped by NBC in 1980 to
become its weatherman for The Today Show, replacing Bob Ryan, who
replaced him at WRC-TV until 2010. After being inspired by a viewer request,
Scott began his practice of wishing centenarians a happy birthday on-air in
1983.
During the 1980s, Scott routinely did
weather reports on the road, interviewing locals at community festivals and
landmarks. He also periodically performed on the program from Washington, D.C.,
which he still considered his home.
In 1989, The Today Show co-host Bryant
Gumbel wrote an internal memo critical of the show's personalities, a memo that
was later leaked to the media. In the memo, Gumbel said Scott "holds the
show hostage to his assortment of whims, wishes, birthdays and bad taste…This
guy is killing us and no one's even trying to rein him in." This garnered enough of a backlash that the
next time they appeared on camera together Scott kissed Gumbel on the cheek to
show he'd forgiven him, and also later said he hoped the whole thing would go
away.
In 1992, Scott, who was the first
incarnation of Ronald McDonald, recorded a commercial for McDonald's arch-rival
Burger King. He also was the spokesman for the Days Inn hotel chain, appearing
in their commercials from 1993 until 1997.
Scott went into semi-retirement in early
1996 and was succeeded by Al Roker. He continued to appear two days a week on
the morning program to wish centenarians a happy birthday. He appeared from the
studio lot of WBBH, the NBC affiliate in Fort Myers, Florida. He was also the commercial voice of Smucker's jellies,
which sponsored his birthday tributes on Today. Scott also continued to substitute for Roker
for over a decade afterward, an arrangement that mostly ended after NBC
acquired The Weather Channel in 2008 and started using that channel's
meteorologists as substitutes (Entertainment Studios would later acquire The
Weather Channel from NBC Universal in 2018, three years after Scott retired
from television completely).
Scott announced his full retirement from
television on December 11, 2015.Todayheld a tribute to Scott on his
final day (December 15, 2015) featuring taped highlights from his years with
the show. The plaza outside Rockefeller Center was renamed Willard Scott Way in
his honor. Several former Today staff came to bid farewell to Scott
including Tom Brokaw, Jane Pauley,Katie Couric, and Gene Shalit along with Barbara
Bush.
Other TV work
Scott made occasional guest appearances
as neighbor "Mr. Poole" on The Hogan Family, where his
character was married to Mrs. Poole, played by Edie McClurg. From 1959–62 Scott
portrayed Bozo the Clown in the children's television program on NBC
Washington, D.C. affiliate WRC-TV. Scott also hosted the NBC telecast of the Macy's
Thanksgiving Day Parade from 1987 to 1997. He was replaced by Matt Lauer in
1998.
For several years in the 1980s, Scott
donned a Santa Claus costume for the broadcast of the National Tree-Lighting
Ceremony in Washington, D.C.
In 1990 and 1992, Scott also hosted the Pillsbury
Bake-Off on CBS (although under contract with CBS' rival NBC).
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