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

weather presenter A weather presenter (also known as a weather girl, weatherman or weather broadcaster) is a person who presents the Weather forecasting, weather forecast daily on radio, television or internet news broadcasts. Using tools such as projected weathe ...

and

radio personality A radio personality 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 (North American English), radio presenter (British English) or radio jockey. Radio personali ...

. She was the weather presenter for

WCBS-TV WCBS-TV (channel 2), branded CBS New York, is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside Riverhead, New York–lic ...

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 Johnson City is a village in Broome County, New York, United States. The population was 15,343 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Binghamton Metropolitan Statistical Area. The village of Johnson City is in the town of Union and is a part ...

. She attended the

College of Saint Rose The College of Saint Rose was a private college in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1920 by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet as a Catholic women's college, and it became fully co-educational in the 1969–1970 academic year. The foll ...

before attending the

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily a ...

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

for

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, 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 and its popular weather presenter

Tex Antoine Herbert John 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. He also served for many years as a radio announcer. Early l ...

. 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 Sexual attraction is attraction on the basis of sexual desire or the quality of arousing such interest. Sexual attractiveness or sex appeal is an individual's ability to attract other people sexually, and is a factor in sexual selection or m ...

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 The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) was a performers' union that represented a wide variety of talent, including actors in radio and television, radio and television announcers and newspersons, singers and recording ...

. She served on both the New York board and the national board. Reed received six regional Emmy Award 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 Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

on June 4, 1970, in

Mamaroneck, New York Mamaroneck ( ), is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 31,758 at the 2020 United States census over 29,156 at the 2 ...

at age 44.

References

Bibliography

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