Willard Scott

Take a microphone out of my hands, and I'm just plain folks.

-Willard Scott

Willard Herman Scott Jr.
March 7, 1934 – September 4, 2021

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".

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.

Another TV role he performed regularly from 1963 to 1966 and occasionally as late as 1971 was Ronad 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.

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.

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. 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.

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 (a tradition that continues to the present day). 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. 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).

Good Night Willard

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Tony Figueroa