Marvin Schlossberg, known professionally as Sonny Eliot (December 5, 1920 – November 16, 2012), was an American

meteorologist A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists ...

, actor and

comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...

, who was known for making jokes during his weather broadcasts.

Biography

Sonny Eliot was born on December 5, 1920, as the youngest of seven children, into a Jewish family. Elliot attended

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 375 programs. It is Michigan's third-l ...

, and served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as a

B-24 The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models desi ...

bomber pilot. During the war he spent 18 months as a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

. He became a weatherman in 1947. He was known for his jokes during broadcasts. Eliot started broadcasting Detroit weather on WWJ-TV (now

WDIV-TV WDIV-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, affiliated with NBC. It serves as the flagship broadcast property of the Graham Media Group subsidiary of Graham Holdings Company. WDIV-TV maintains studio facili ...

on channel 4) from the 1947 to 1980. He later forecasted for

WJBK-TV WJBK (channel 2) is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Owned and operated by the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network through its Fox Television Stations division, the station maintains studios and transmitter facilities ...

(channel 2) Detroit from 1980 to 1983, and also hosted a movie series on

WKBD-TV WKBD-TV (channel 50), branded as CW Detroit 50, is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, affiliated with The CW. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside WWJ-TV (channel 62), a CBS owned-and-operated station. ...

(channel 50). He was known for his jokes during his weather broadcast and combining words together (e.g., showers and foggy became "shoggy" weather). He also hosted the Detroit show ''At The Zoo'', which was filmed at the

Detroit Zoo The Detroit Zoo is a zoo located in the cities of Huntington Woods and Royal Oak in the U.S. state of Michigan. Spanning , it houses more than 2,000 animals and more than 200 different species. The zoo was the first U.S. zoo to feature bar-l ...

. It would last 17 years, and aired on WWJ-TV/WDIV-TV. Elliot also appeared on many TV shows and commercials. In 2005 Eliot was inducted into the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame. Eliot retired from broadcasting in September 2010 and died on November 16, 2012, at the age of 91. Wayne State University hosted a tribute for Eliot.

References

External links

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Sonny Eliot at DiscogsSonny Elliot at Turner Classic Movies
1920 births 2012 deaths People from Detroit People from Farmington Hills, Michigan American television weather presenters Wayne State University alumni World War II prisoners of war held by Germany Shot-down aviators United States Army Air Forces officers United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II {{US-journalist-stub