Dick Goddard | |
---|---|
Born |
Akron, Ohio, U.S. |
February 24, 1931
Nationality | American |
Occupation | former television news , meteorologist, author |
Richard D. "Dick" Goddard (born February 24, 1931) is an American television meteorologist, author, cartoonist, and animal activist. For over five decades, he served as the evening meteorologist at WJW-TV, the Fox Broadcasting Company-affiliated television station in Cleveland, Ohio. He holds the Guinness World Record for longest career as a weather forecaster.
After graduating from Green High School in what is now Green, Ohio, in 1949, Goddard began his weather career while taking classes on meteorology during a stint with the United States Air Force from 1949 through the early 1950s. During this time, Goddard's most notable assignment was forecasting for atmospheric nuclear weapons tests by the United States Atomic Energy Commission in the Pacific.
He then attended Kent State University, where he majored in drama and broadcasting. While there he had notable success as the lead character, Curly, in the school's production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma!
After graduating from Kent State in 1960, he joined the weather team at Westinghouse Broadcasting-owned KYW-TV (now WKYC-TV) in Cleveland a year later; while at KYW-TV, Goddard worked alongside sports anchor Jim Graner. Goddard was one of several employees of KYW-TV who agreed to move to WRCV-TV in Philadelphia in June 1965, after Westinghouse was allowed by the FCC to reverse a station trade with NBC in 1956 based on coercion in order for Westinghouse to retain their NBC affiliations; the KYW calls also moved back to Philadelphia. However, Goddard did not take a liking to Philadelphia, and returned to Cleveland several months later. In 1966, Goddard became the chief meteorologist at WJW-TV, where he would work for the remainder of his career.