Jonathan Meath (born September 16, 1955) is an American television producer and director, based in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

who is notable for children's television production. He was Senior Producer of the TV

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed b ...

'' Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?'' He produced '' Zoom (1999)'' and ''

The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss ''The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss'' is an American children's puppet television series based on characters created by Dr. Seuss, produced by The Jim Henson Company. It aired from October 13, 1996, to December 28, 1998, on Nickelodeon. It combin ...

.'' He co-founded a production company called Andanzura. In addition, he is notable for having a dual career as a professional

Santa Claus Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a Legend, legendary figure originating in Western Christianity, Western Christian culture who is said to Christmas gift-bringer, bring ...

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

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...

'', and at New York's

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplac ...

with

The Rockettes The Rockettes are an American precision dance company. Founded 1925 in St. Louis, they have, since , performed at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Until 2015, they also had a touring company. They are best known for starring in the Rad ...

. He appeared on the cover of ''

Boston Magazine ''Boston'' is a monthly magazine concerning life in the Greater Boston area and has been in publication since 1805. History and profile ''Boston'' magazine was started in 1805. Metrocorp, Inc. bought the magazine in 1970. The company also owns ...

'' as Father Christmas. He was described by ''

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...

'' and ''

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Mar ...

'' 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 and appeared as Santa in a Delta Airline's in-flight safety video.

Television career

Meath attended

Phillips Academy ("Not for Self") la, Finis Origine Pendet ("The End Depends Upon the Beginning") Youth From Every Quarter Knowledge and Goodness , address = 180 Main Street , city = Andover , state = Ma ...

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 research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

in 1979. During the 1980s Meath worked at

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

, Business Times, ''The Creative Establishment'',

MTV Networks Paramount Media Networks (formerly known as Warner Cable Communications, Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, MTV Networks, Viacom Media Networks, and ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks) is an American mass media division of Paramount Global tha ...

and Greenwood Productions in various capacities. During 1996–1998, he produced shows for the

Jim Henson Company The Jim Henson Company (formerly known as Muppets, Inc., Henson Associates, Inc., and Jim Henson Productions, Inc.; commonly referred to as Henson) is an American entertainment company located in Los Angeles, California. The company is known for ...

called ''

''. He produced for

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

295 half-hour episodes of '' Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?'', as well as 80 episodes of ''

Zoom Zoom may refer to: Technology Computing * Zoom (software), videoconferencing application * Page zooming, the ability to magnify or shrink a portion of a page on a computer display * Zooming user interface, a graphical interface allowing for image ...

''.

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

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) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

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 John Malcolm Forbes (1847 – February 19, 1904) was an American businessman and sportsman. He was born in Milton, Massachusetts in 1847 into the wealthy Forbes family of Boston, with his father being John Murray Forbes. He was a prominent ya ...

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, philanthropist and abolitionist. He was president of both the Michigan Central railroad and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad in ...

. Through this, Meath is distantly related to

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...

. Meath's daughter, Amelia Randall Meath, is a member of the bands

Mountain Man A mountain man is an explorer who lives in the wilderness. Mountain men were most common in the North American Rocky Mountains from about 1810 through to the 1880s (with a peak population in the early 1840s). They were instrumental in opening up ...

and

Sylvan Esso Sylvan Esso is an American electronic pop duo from Durham, North Carolina, formed in 2013. The band consists of singer Amelia Meath (born July 2, 1988) and producer Nick Sanborn (born March 8, 1983). They made their debut with the single "Hey Mam ...

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