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

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

s Dave Thomas in Buffalo, and Dave Roberts in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. He was the main weatherman for WPVI-TV in Philadelphia from 1983 until his retirement in 2009.

Early life and education

Roberts was born in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

, to a working-class family, and he is of

Valle d'Aosta The Aosta Valley ( ; ; ; or ), officially the Autonomous Region of Aosta Valley, is a mountainous Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region in northwestern Italy. It is bordered by Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Fr ...

(northern Italian) descent. The name ''Boreanaz'' corresponds to Slovene ''Borjanac'' (literally, 'resident of Borjana'). Roberts attended

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

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 Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. With a population of 148,620 and a Syracuse metropolitan area, metropolitan area of 662,057, it is the fifth-most populated city and 13 ...

, in 1954, later moving to WOLF-AM. His

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

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 The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

Forces Radio-TV Network, located in the

Panama Canal Zone The Panama Canal Zone (), also known as just the Canal Zone, was a International zone#Concessions, concession of the United States located in the Isthmus of Panama that existed from 1903 to 1979. It consisted of the Panama Canal and an area gene ...

, as well as working in

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 ...

as a broadcaster for Armed Forces Radio. In 1961, Roberts joined WKBW-TV as the station's weatherman and as the host of the children's show ''

Rocketship 7 ''Rocketship 7'' was a children's television series that aired weekday mornings on WKBW-TV in Buffalo, New York from 1962 to 1978 and from 1992 to 1993. ''Rocketship 7'' was created to promote the work of Bell Aircraft, Bell Aerospace, an aircra ...

'', 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 American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 2 ...

'', '' Doogie Howser, M.D.'' and '' thirtysomething''. 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 (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Angel on The WB/UPN supernatural fiction, supe ...

became famous for playing the vampire

Angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

in both ''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. The concept is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film, also written by Whedon, a ...

'' and its spin-off, ''

'', as well as his role as FBI Agent Seeley Booth on '' Bones'' and as MCPO Jason Hayes on '' SEAL Team''. 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 WPVI-TV in Philadelphia as a co-host for the morning television show ''AM Philadelphia''. To avoid possible confusion with Lisa Thomas-Laury, 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''. 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 is the legislative body of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States. It is composed of 17 councilmembers: ten members elected by district and seven members elected at-large from throughou ...

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 in America, as well as being selected as "Person of the Year" by the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

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 American television weather presenters Journalists from New York (state)