Co-host Ed McMahon and Jerry Lewis
Legendary comedian Jerry Lewis hosted his 45th and final
21-and-a-half hour telethon in 2010. MDA continued the
telethon in shorter forms with different hosts and formats
through 2014 before officially abandoning the Labor Day
tradition.
Willard Herman Scott Jr. (March 7, 1934 – September 4, 2021)
(The New York Times) – Willard Scott, the antic longtime weather forecaster on the “Today” show, whose work, by his own cheerful acknowledgment, made it clear that you don’t need a weatherman
to know which way the wind blows, died on Saturday at his farm in Deplane, Va.
His death was confirmed by his wife, Paris Keena Scott. She did
not specify a cause, saying only that he had died after a brief
illness.
Mr. Scott, who had earlier played both Bozo the Clown and the
original Ronald McDonald on television (below), was among
the first of a generation of television weathermen who stressed showmanship over science.
CAMILLE BOHANNON
Tyrus Raymond Cobb
(December 18, 1886– July 17, 1961)
(Nicknamed The Georgia Peach)
On August 26, 1939, the first televised Major League baseball
game was broadcast on station W2XBS, the station that was
to become WNBC-TV. Announcer Red Barber (below) called
the game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn
Dodgers at Ebbits Field in Brooklyn, New York.
In 1939, the World’s Fair—which was being held in New York,
became the catalyst for the historic broadcast. The television
was one of the fair’s prize exhibits, and organizers believed
that the Dodgers-Reds doubleheader on August 26 was the
perfect event to showcase America’s grasp on the new
technology.
