RIP Willard Scott.
'Today' Veteran Willard Scott, Who Delivered Weather With Shtick, Dies At 87
September 4, 20215:13 PM ET
Willard Scott became the
Today show's weatherman in 1980.
NBC NewsWire via Getty Images
Willard Scott never seemed to have much trouble getting work. He narrated shows at Carnegie Hall, he spent a decade hosting the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and he appeared in countless commercials — all
after he found success as the lovable, oddball weather guy on NBC's
Today show. Scott died Saturday at 87.
A real classy Clown.
Q:
How did Ronald McDonald come about - did you really create the character?
A: I worked locally in Washington as Bozo the Clown. We did all sorts of appearances and had terrific results - 5,000 or 6,000 kids would show up. Then Bozo went off the air and they wanted to keep me as the clown. I first named him Donald McDonald, but they changed it to Ronald.
He was the original Ronald McDonald
McDonald's Fired Willard Scott, The First Ronald McDonald, For Being Too Fat-Insane Fast Food Facts
Willard Scott was the first Ronald McDonald, but ironically enough, he was fired for being too fat. Now maybe if they kept a chubby Ronald McDonald around, then people would at least know what was in store for them. It's kind of false advertising to see that clown so skinny if he spends so much time in the restaurant.
Q:
Is it true that NBC made you wear a toupee on air when you were in New York?
A: Well, this one guy was hung up on hairpieces. I always used to think of it as joke; I took mine off a couple of times on the air. I always wore it in Washington when I did the weather. I had a filing cabinet and I kept the hair in a box in there. Once, right before doing the weather, I ran in to get my hair and it wasn’t there. This girl, as a joke, had hidden it.
"Weather can be pretty bland on a day to day basis, and so what you do is to add a little shtick to it," Scott told NPR in 1987. That shtick included playing around with his infamously bad toupee, impersonated pop star Boy George and then, one morning, the ultimate Willard Scott stunt: He delivered the weather dressed up as Brazilian singer Carmen Miranda. Not everyone at NBC was amused.
His goofy act became a staple of local radio and TV. Kids who grew up around Washington in the early '60s knew Scott by another name: Bozo the Clown. Then he landed a role that would become part of the fabric of American popular culture — Scott was the original Ronald McDonald.
In 1983, Scott delivered
Today's weather report dressed as Brazilian singer Carmen Miranda.
David Pickoff/AP
https://www.npr.org/2021/09/04/341894570/today-veteran-willard-scott-weatherman-dies-ronaldmcdonald