Mary Walther O'Hara (1925 or 1926 – June 4, 1970), known professionally as Carol Reed, was an American weather presenter and

radio personality A radio personality (American English) or radio presenter (British English) is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host, and in India and Pakistan as a rad ...

. She was the weather presenter for WCBS-TV from 1952 to 1964. Her well received presentation began the trend of women being hired as weather presenters for their appearance. Besides her role as a weather presenter, Reed also hosted a syndicated radio program.

Personal life

Mary Walther was born in Johnson City, New York. She attended the

College of Saint Rose The College of Saint Rose is a private Roman Catholic college in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1920 by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet as a women's college. It became fully co-educational in 1969; the following year, the college ad ...

before attending the

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...

for a master's degree in speech and drama. She married television sound engineer Hamilton O'Hara.

Weather presenter

Reed began a career in radio and television in 1949. In 1952, she became the weather presenter for WCBS-TV in New York City, hosting the nightly weather segment "Rain or Shine". She was hired purely for her presentation, as she did not have a degree in meteorology and had no prior qualifications for weather reporting. Her hiring was part of an attempt by WCBS-TV to draw viewers from

WNBT-TV WNBC (channel 4) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Linden, New Jersey–licensed Telemundo station WN ...

and its popular weather presenter

Tex Antoine Herbert Jon Antoine Jr. (April 21, 1923 – January 12, 1983), known professionally as Tex Antoine, was an American weatherman on New York City television for nearly three decades. Early life and career He was born Herbert Jon Antoine Jr., i ...

. This made her the first female weather presenter in a major American city. Reed was positively received by viewers, and her distinct delivery became well known among New York residents. Her hiring prompted a trend of female weather presenters being hired for sex appeal rather than for their abilities or expertise, bringing about the term "weather girl". She came to be identified with her nightly sign-off, "have a happy". When asked to explain the phrase, she said that she means it as "whatever you're doing, have it happy". Her program was cut in 1964 when the station decided to fold weather into its standard news reporting.

Later life

Reed was given her own syndicated radio program, ''The Carol Reed Show'', in which she was an interviewer. She also had a radio show with WCBS, ''The Talk of New York'', in 1966. The same year, she was president of the New York branch of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. She served on both the New York board and the national board. Reed received six

regional Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

nominations throughout her career, winning one for "most popular female personality". Reed spent her final years working as a master of ceremonies for charity events. She died of cancer on June 4, 1970, in Mamaroneck, New York at age 44.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reed, Carol 1970 deaths American television personalities American women television personalities Weather presenters Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Year of birth uncertain