William T. Harrington (September 29, 1925 – February 14, 1998) was an American sportscaster, children's television host, and news reporter for WHDH radio and

WCVB-TV WCVB-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by Hearst Television. The station's studios are located on TV Place (off Gould Street near the I-95/ MA 128/Highland Avenue ...

in Boston.

Early life

A native of

Lynn, Massachusetts Lynn is the eighth-largest municipality in Massachusetts and the largest city in Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Boston city line at Suffolk Downs, Lynn is part of Greater Boston's urban inner core. Settled by E ...

, Harrington began his performing career at the age of 7 as an actor in

summer stock theater In American theater, summer-stock theater is a theater that presents stage productions only in the summer. The name combines the season with the tradition of staging shows by a resident company, reusing stock scenery and costumes. Summer stock t ...

. He appeared on stage with Helen Hayes,

May Whitty May is the fifth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the third of seven months to have a length of 31 days. May is a month of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. Therefore, May ...

, and

Edward Everett Horton Edward Everett Horton Jr. (March 18, 1886 – September 29, 1970) was an American character actor. He had a long career in film, theater, radio, television, and voice work for animated cartoons. Early life Horton was born in Kings County ...

. His performances with the North Shore Players led to radio work while still a student at

Lynn English High School Lynn English High School (LEHS) is a public high school located at 50 Goodridge Street in the eastern section of Lynn, Massachusetts, United States. It is a part of Lynn Public Schools, and the largest school in the Lynn school system. The name ...

. He graduated from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

. and served in the

United States Merchant Marine United States Merchant Marines are United States civilian mariners and U.S. civilian and federally owned merchant vessels. Both the civilian mariners and the merchant vessels are managed by a combination of the government and private sectors, an ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and was a broadcaster with

Armed Forces Radio The American Forces Network (AFN) is a government television and radio broadcast service the U.S. military provides to those stationed or assigned overseas. Headquartered at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, AFN's broadcast operations, which i ...

Career

In 1960, Harrington was hired by

WHDH-TV WHDH (channel 7) is an independent television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is owned by Sunbeam Television alongside Cambridge-licensed CW affiliate WLVI (channel 56). WHDH and WLVI share studios at Bulfinch Place (nea ...

to play Commander Jet on '' Commander Jet's Comedy''. He also played Nozo the Clown, the brother of

Bozo the Clown Bozo the Clown, sometimes billed as "Bozo, The World's Most Famous Clown", is a clown character created for children's entertainment, widely popular in the second half of the 20th century. He was introduced in the United States in 1946, and to te ...

. Nozo filled in for Bozo when Frank Avruch was unable to appear on the show. Harrington was a sportscaster at WHDH radio during the 1960s. He was

Johnny Most John M. Most (June 15, 1923 – January 3, 1993) was an American sports announcer, known primarily as the raspy radio voice of the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association from 1953 to 1990. Most's radio call during the final moment ...

's color commentator on Boston Celtics games and the radio play-by-play announcer for the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

1961–1965. He worked as a news reporter and state house correspondent for WHDH radio, WHDH-TV and

during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. On December 29, 1981, Harrington was suspended by WCVB-TV for promoting legislative changes in the state's auto insurance system as a public relations consultant for the Westchester Group, an insurance firm. On January 12, 1983, the station fired Harrington for violating it's conflict of interest code. Harrington appealed his dismissal in court and the two sides reached a settlement on July 13, 1982. Soon after his departure from WCVB-TV, Harrington was hired as a public relations consultant by

Massport Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) is an American port authority in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It owns and operates three airports—Logan International Airport, Hanscom Field, and Worcester Regional Airport—and public terminals in ...

interim executive director Kenneth C. Pearson. He also served as a media consultant to

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

Thomas W. McGee. He remained a media consultant and partner in the Westchester Group until his death on February 14, 1998.

Personal life

In 1956, he married fellow Boston television personality Jean Dallaire, who subsequently played Miss Jean on the Boston version of ''

Romper Room ''Romper Room'' is an American children's television series that was franchised and syndicated from 1953 to 1994. The program targeted preschoolers (children five years of age or younger), and was created and produced by Bert Claster and his p ...

''. He later married journalist Helen Woodman who was the owner and editor of the State House News Service in Boston, Massachusetts.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrington, Bill 1925 births 1998 deaths American radio sports announcers American television personalities Boston Bruins announcers National Basketball Association broadcasters National Hockey League broadcasters People from Lynn, Massachusetts Radio personalities from Boston