Jonathan Meath (born September 16, 1955) is an American television producer and director. He was senior producer of the television

game show A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a game show host, host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating a ...

'' Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?'' He also was a producer of '' The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss'' and the 1990s' remake of '' Zoom.'' In addition, he is notable for having a dual career as a professional

Santa Claus Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Chris ...

. He made numerous appearances in various media as Santa, including on ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

'', at Radio City Music Hall with The Rockettes, on the cover of '' Boston Magazine'', and on a

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its ...

' pre-flight safety demonstration. He was described by

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

and ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' as a "top Santa".Olivia B. Waxman, Dec. 09, 2013, ''Time Magazine''
These Are the 11 Best Santas in the U.S. – And where to find them
Accessed Dec. 10, 2013

Television career

Meath attended Phillips Academy and graduated in 1974 with the school's first co–educational class. He graduated from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

in 1979. During the 1980s Meath worked at CBS, Business Times, ''The Creative Establishment'', MTV Networks and Greenwood Productions in various capacities. During 1996–1998, he produced shows for the Jim Henson Company called '' The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss''. He produced for PBS 295 half-hour episodes of '' Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?'', as well as 80 episodes of '' Zoom''.

Career

Meath, whose beard and hair went white early in life, noticed that children sometimes called him "Santa". He is slightly overweight — he has described himself as an "organic Santa" — and his wife bought him a red suit. He attended schools to learn the craft of being a Santa. He appeared in parades. He is a professional vocalist. In 2012, he appeared as Santa at Radio City Music Hall for the Christmas Spectacular show in New York City. Meath uses his real beard but conditions it with a "shimmer-like shampoo known as ''Cowboy Magic'', and uses hair gel for his mustache. His role as Santa was described in numerous publications. In 2009, he appeared in a thirty-second television commercial spot for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

baseball team.

Personal life

Meath has one child and lives in Newburyport, Massachusetts. His mother was activist and historian Mary Stewart Hewitt. He is the great great grandson of businessman and sportsman John Malcolm Forbes and the great great great grandson of railroad industrialist

John Murray Forbes John Murray Forbes (February 23, 1813 – October 12, 1898) was an American railroad magnate, merchant, History of opium in China#Growth of the opium trade, opium merchant, philanthropist and Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist. ...

. Through this, Meath is distantly related to

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...

. Meath's daughter, Amelia Randall Meath, is a member of the bands Mountain Man and Sylvan Esso.

Awards

References

External links

* *
Jonathan Meath on NPR as Santa

Santa JG on Facebook
* see 2:19 {{DEFAULTSORT:Meath, Jonathan Living people Television producers from Massachusetts Santa Claus Businesspeople from Cambridge, Massachusetts Phillips Academy alumni Tisch School of the Arts alumni 1955 births