David Thomas Boreanaz (born February 14, 1936) is a retired American television broadcaster who broadcast under the

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

s Dave Thomas in Buffalo, and Dave Roberts in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. He was the main

weatherman Weatherman or Weather man may refer to: Professions or roles * Weatherman, a member of Weather Underground, an American left-wing organization active 1969–1977 * Weather forecaster, a scientist who forecasts the weather * Weather presenter, ...

for

WPVI-TV WPVI-TV (channel 6), branded on-air as 6 ABC, is a television station in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, airing programming from the American Broadcasting Company, ABC network. owned-and-operated station, Owned and opera ...

in Philadelphia from 1983 until his retirement in 2009.

Early life and education

Roberts was born in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

to a working-class family and is of Valle d'Aosta (northern Italian) descent. The name Boreanaz was originally spelled ''Berginc'' and is of Slovenian origins. Roberts attended

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

as a speech and dramatic arts student, graduating with dual majors in English and communications.

Career

Roberts began working as a radio broadcaster at WAER-FM in Syracuse, New York in 1954, later moving to WOLF-AM. His

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...

broadcasting career began at WBUF in Buffalo in 1956. Two years later, Roberts served as the U.S. Army's news director for the Caribbean Forces Radio-TV Network, located in the

Panama Canal Zone The Panama Canal Zone ( es, Zona del Canal de Panamá), also simply known as the Canal Zone, was an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the Isthmus of Panama, that existed from 1903 to 1979. It was located within the terr ...

, as well as working in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

as a broadcaster for Armed Forces Radio. In 1961, Roberts joined WKBW-TV as the station's

and as the host of the children's show '' Rocketship 7'', as well as hosting '' Dialing for Dollars''. In Buffalo, because the use of ethnic surnames was at that time discouraged, he temporarily adopted David Thomas as his stage name. He is also a member of the

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

; he has had roles in '' Blow Out'', ''

All My Children ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 2013, via Hulu, Hulu Plus, and ...

'', ''

Doogie Howser, M.D. ''Doogie Howser, M.D.'' is an American medical sitcom that ran for four seasons on ABC from September 19, 1989, to March 24, 1993, totaling 97 episodes. Created by Steven Bochco and David E. Kelley, the show stars Neil Patrick Harris in the titl ...

'' and ''

thirtysomething ''Thirtysomething'' is an American drama television series created by Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz for United Artists Television (under MGM/UA Television) and aired on ABC from September 29, 1987, to May 28, 1991."The 'don't trust ...

''. His son

David Boreanaz David Paul Boreanaz ( born May 16, 1969) is an American actor, television producer, and director known for playing the roles of vampire-turned-private investigator Angel on The WB/ UPN ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' Supernatural fiction, supernat ...

became famous for playing the vampire

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inc ...

in both '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and its spin-off, ''

'', as well as his role as FBI Agent Seeley Booth on '' Bones''. Roberts made an uncredited cameo appearance, as an extra in the FBI office, in the 100th episode of ''Bones'', " The Parts in the Sum of the Whole", which was directed by his son.

6ABC

In 1978, Roberts joined

in Philadelphia as a co-host for the morning television show ''AM Philadelphia''. To avoid possible confusion with

Lisa Thomas-Laury Lisa Thomas-Laury is a retired news presenter in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. From 1983 to 2003, she co-anchored the 5 p.m. newscast aired by WPVI-TV. Career Thomas-Laury started at WPVI-TV in Philadelphia on February 20, 1978, as n ...

, he changed his stage name from David Thomas to Dave Roberts. After the death of Jim O'Brien on September 25, 1983, he began reporting the weather for WPVI's ''

Action News ''Action News'' is a local television newscast format originating in the United States. First conceived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it is characterized by a tight format with strict time limits on set packages, a focus on surrounding suburbs, ...

''. In 1993, Roberts became a recipient of the

National Weather Association The National Weather Association (NWA), founded in 1975, is an American professional association with a mission to support and promote excellence in operational meteorology and related activities. Background The National Weather Association is, ...

's "Weathercaster Seal of Approval". In 2000, he was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia Hall of Fame, and selected "Person of the Year", the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia's highest honor. The following year, he was inducted into the Buffalo, New York Broadcasting Hall of Fame. On November 18, 2009, at age 73, Roberts announced his retirement from WPVI-TV. His last on-air appearance was on December 11, 2009, during the 6 p.m. newscast alongside long-time colleague Jim Gardner. Upon his retirement he was honored by the

Philadelphia City Council The Philadelphia City Council, the legislative body of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, consists of ten members elected by district and seven members elected at-large. The council president is elected by the members from among their number. Each ...

for his broadcasting and charity work. In 2011 he and his son David were jointly awarded the Gold Medal by the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters for their successful careers in broadcasting and acting respectively.

Personal life

Roberts and his wife Patti have two daughters and a son,

, who is an actor, director and producer. Roberts has made several uncredited appearances on his son's show '' Bones'' as an extra. Roberts is well regarded for his community service. He is active with numerous

charities A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a cha ...

in the Philadelphia metropolitan area and has hosted the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon. He has been granted the "Man of the Year Achievement Award" by the Central Delco Lodge #2438,

Order of the Sons of Italy The Order Sons of Italy in America ( it, Ordine Figli d’Italia in America, OSIA) is the largest and the oldest Italian American fraternal organization in the United States. A similar organization exists in Canada. It has more than 600,000 mem ...

in America, as well as being selected as "Person of the Year" by the

Muscular Dystrophy Association The Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) is an American 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) umbrella organization that works to support people with Neuromuscular disease, neuromuscular diseases. Founded in 1950 by Paul Cohen, who lived with muscular ...

References

External links

*
Profile at 6abc.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Dave 1936 births Living people American male journalists American people of Italian descent American people of Slovenian descent American television journalists Philadelphia television reporters Syracuse University alumni Television personalities from Buffalo, New York Television anchors from Philadelphia Weather presenters Journalists from New York (state)