Willard Scott - # 271

Willard Scott, beloved ‘Today’ show weatherman, dead at 87

 

He was number 271 on the list.

Willard Scott, the jovial “Today” show weatherman and famous birthday well-wisher, whose boyish spirit brightened even dreary mornings for two generations of Americans, died Saturday. He was 87.

Al Roker, Scott’s “Today” show successor, shared news of Scott’s death on Instagram.

“Willard Scott passed peacefully at the age of 87 surrounded by family, including his daughters Sally and Mary and his lovely wife, Paris,” Roker wrote. “He was truly my second dad and am where I am today because of his generous spirit. Willard was a man of his times, the ultimate broadcaster. There will never be anyone quite like him.”

The cause of death was not released.

Scott joined the “Today” show in 1980 and was a constant presence beamed into millions of American homes for 30 years.

His daily birthday wishes to viewers turning 100 become an endearing segment, with the images of the centenarians projected onto jars of Smucker’s jelly while Scott described them in glowing terms.

His career at NBC actually spanned 65 years, according to the “Today” show website, starting as a page for the network’s NBC affiliate in 1950.

He often stepped into offbeat roles on television, even before he grew to national fame.

Among other achievements that spoke to his effervescent spirt, Scott portrayed on television both Bozo the Clown and hamburger pitch-man Ronald McDonald.

In 1985 he famously delivered the weather dressed as pop singer Boy George, whose androgynous look shocked the culture of the time.

He portrayed many other colorful characters, both real and imaginary, including a Cupid on Valentine’s Day, a groundhog to celebrate Groundhog Day and flamboyant Brazilian singer Carmen Miranda, the latter an effort secure a $1,000 donation to the USO, according to Today.com.

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.

n 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.

Scott announced his full retirement from television on December 11, 2015. Today held 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.

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).

n 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. He was also the commercial voice of Smucker's jellies, which sponsored his birthday tributes on Today.

He was born on March 7, 1934 in Alexandria, Va., and graduated from American University in Washington D.C., where he got his first taste for the broadcast industry working for the college radio station.

He was honored by President Reagan with a Private Sector Award for Public Service in 1985, Today.com reported. Scott was married for 43 years to wife Mary Dwyer Scott, with whom he had two children, until her death in 2002. He is survived by Paris Keena, his wife of seven years.