Willard Scott was the creator and original performer of McDonald's mascot clown Ronald McDonald.
58 Facts About Willard Scott
2.
Willard Scott was described by the New York Times as a "garrulous, gaptoothed, boutonniere-wearing, funny-hatted, sometimes toupee-clad, larger-than-life American Everyman".
3.
Willard Scott parlayed his national exposure as weather presenter into a highly successful career as a pitchman who promoted an ever-widening range of products the fees for which outstripped his million dollar annual salary at NBC.
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Willard Scott credited his success to his efforts to make everyone, his audience, his clients feel loved.
5.
Willard Scott just had that magic about him, that he made everybody feel special.
6.
Willard Scott was raised as and remained a fundamentalist Christian who considered becoming a minister before starting his broadcasting career.
7.
Willard Scott took me to the control room and said, 'You can sit here if you stay very quiet.
8.
At the age of nine, Willard Scott organized a group of 15 boys into a radio club on his neighborhood block.
9.
Willard Scott built his own radio station in his family home's basement and sold ads he aired during his low power broadcasts.
10.
Willard Scott held two part-time disk jockey jobs while in high school, "High School Hit Parade" on WOL 1450 AM and "Dancing Party" on WCFM 99.5 FM.
11.
Willard Scott was 16 years old in 1950 when he worked as an NBC page at WRC, NBC's owned-and-operated radio station in Washington, DC, for $12 per week.
12.
Willard Scott was elected Class President all four years of his attendance.
13.
Willard Scott attended American University, where he worked alongside fellow student Ed Walker at WAMU-AM, the university's radio station.
14.
Willard Scott became a member of Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity while at American University and graduated in 1955 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in "philosophy and religion".
15.
From 1955 to 1972, Willard Scott teamed with Ed Walker as co-host of the nightly Joy Boys radio program on NBC-owned WRC radio.
16.
Willard 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.
17.
Willard Scott wrote in his book The Joy of Living, their close professional and personal bond continued until Walker's death in October 2015.
18.
Willard Scott was promoted on local advertising for the Tidewater area radio station.
19.
Willard Scott felt his early work in children's programming was one reason for his success in engaging and entertaining television viewers.
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Willard Scott was a "co-master of ceremonies" with Mac McGarry on this 1955 afternoon variety program broadcast on WRC-TV.
21.
Willard Scott said this 1966 children's show he created and hosted was "The worst show I did in my life, in my opinion, was the best show I ever did in my life, we had more fun".
22.
Willard Scott used Lester, his basset hound, as "Doctor Strangedog", a human German physicist and spy who had stowed away on the rocket ship.
23.
Willard Scott portrayed Bozo the Clown on WRC-TV's one-hour, weekday show Bozo's Circus.
24.
Washington, DC, McDonalds stores had enjoyed incredible customer attendance when Willard Scott appeared as Bozo the Clown.
25.
The local McDonalds franchisees wanted another clown to drive sales and asked Willard Scott to develop a new character.
26.
Willard Scott portrayed Ronald McDonald from 1963 through 1967, appearing in three tv commercials and narrating a 45 rpm recording of "The Night Before Christmas" as part of a 1963 holiday promotion.
27.
Willard Scott was told he would continue to portray the clown but just before he was to appear at the 1966 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Willard Scott was replaced by a new clown actor, Coco, who had been a clown in the Ringling Brothers circus.
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Willard Scott denied the claims and cited other commitments he had at the time.
29.
Willard Scott has appeared as Ronald McDonald in the Washington, DC, broadcast market.
30.
In 1966, Willard Scott served as master of ceremonies WRC-TV's new program, The Ronald Show.
31.
In March 1980, the NBC network came calling, and Willard Scott was named weatherman on TODAY, replacing Bob Ryan.
32.
Willard Scott was tapped by NBC in 1980 to become its weatherman for The Today Show.
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Willard Scott quickly established his ability to connect with his audience.
34.
Willard Scott periodically performed on the program from Washington, DC, which he still considered his home.
35.
Willard Scott said he used to dress up like Carmen Miranda as a kid to sell war bonds in World War II.
36.
Willard Scott promised to don a Miranda outfit again if a viewer would donate $1,000 to the USO.
37.
The donation was made and Willard Scott gave his August 22,1983, weather forecast on the Today Show dressed in drag, wearing a bright red tropical dress, earrings and pearls, heels, and a showy, multi-colored headdress with feathers and fruit, reminiscent of the late Brazilian entertainer's outfits.
38.
When Willard Scott died, Smucker's posted a tribute to him, putting his face on the jelly jar label graphic.
39.
In 1992, Willard Scott, who was the first incarnation of Ronald McDonald, recorded a commercial for McDonald's arch-rival Burger King.
40.
Willard Scott was the spokesman for the Days Inn hotel chain, appearing in their commercials from 1993 until 1997.
41.
The companies Willard Scott endorsed include: 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.
42.
Willard 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.
43.
Willard 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.
44.
Willard Scott was the host of WAVE TV's broadcast coverage of the Kentucky Derby Festival Pegasus Parade in Louisville, Kentucky, from 1982 through 2005.
45.
Willard Scott hosted the NBC telecast of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade from 1987 to 1997.
46.
For several years in the 1980s, Willard Scott donned a Santa Claus costume for the broadcast of the National Tree-Lighting Ceremony in Washington, DC.
47.
In 1990 and 1992, Willard Scott hosted the Pillsbury Bake-Off on CBS.
48.
Willard Scott enlisted in the US Navy, serving from 1956 to 1958 as a seaman.
49.
Willard Scott went into semi-retirement in early 1996, succeeded by Al Roker who moved from DC station WTTG.
50.
Willard Scott had helped Roker earn the weather job at the NBC's WKYC in Cleveland.
51.
Willard Scott has appeared two days a week on the morning program to wish centenarians a happy birthday.
52.
Willard Scott appeared from the studio lot of WBBH, the NBC affiliate in Fort Myers, Florida.
53.
Willard Scott 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.
54.
Willard Scott announced his full retirement from television on December 11,2015.
55.
Several former Today staff came to bid farewell to Willard Scott including Tom Brokaw, Jane Pauley, Katie Couric, and Gene Shalit along with Barbara Bush.
56.
Willard Scott played Santa Claus at various White House events.
57.
Willard Scott was married to Mary Dwyer Willard Scott from 1959 until her death in 2002.
58.
Willard Scott died of natural causes on September 4,2021, at the age of 87.