W. Carter Merbreier (August 2, 1926 – August 9, 2016) was an American

television personality Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group due to the attention given to them by mass media. The word is also used to refer to famous individuals. A person may attain celebrity status by having great w ...

, ordained

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

minister and former police chaplain for the

Philadelphia Police Department The Philadelphia Police Department (PPD, Philly PD, or Philly Police) is the police agency responsible for law enforcement and investigations within the County and City of Philadelphia. The PPD is one of the oldest municipal police agencies, f ...

. Merbreier created and co-hosted the syndicated children's

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

, '' Captain Noah and His Magical Ark'', in 1967. The show aired until 1994. Born to Adolphe and Retta (née Carter) Merbreier, Carter Merbreier (he apparently later added the initial "W.") co-hosted ''Captain Noah and His Magical Ark'' with his real-life wife,

Patricia Patricia is a feminine given name of Latin language, Latin origin. Derived from the Latin word ''Patrician (ancient Rome), patrician'', meaning 'noble', it is the feminine form of the masculine given name Patrick (given name), Patrick. Another we ...

. He played Captain Noah while Patricia Merbreier played Mrs. Noah and acted as the show's

puppeteer A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object called a puppet to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from the ...

, beginning with its 13th week on the air. Merbreier originally created the series as a Sunday morning religious program, but switched the format to a children's show in 1970. The Philadelphia Council of Churches produced the show, which was filmed at the studios on

WPVI WPVI-TV (channel 6) is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Owned and operated by the ABC television network through its ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station maintains studios on City Avenue in the ...

(Channel 6). At its peak in the early 1970s, Merbreier's ''Captain Noah and His Magical Ark'' aired in syndication on twenty-two

television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth's s ...

s throughout the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and attracted a larger local Philadelphia audience than both ''

Captain Kangaroo ''Captain Kangaroo'' is an American children's television series that aired weekday mornings on the American television network CBS for 29 years, from 1955 to 1984, making it the longest-running nationally broadcast children's television program ...

'' and ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

'' combined. Carter and Patricia Merbreier jointly decided to retire and end the show in 1994 after co-hosting approximately 3,600 episodes since 1967. They resided at their home in

Gladwyne, Pennsylvania Gladwyne is a suburban community in Lower Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States along the historic Philadelphia Main Line. In 2018, Gladwyne was ranked the sixth richest ZIP Code (using 2015 IRS data) in the country i ...

, following their retirement from the show. In 2001, Carter and Patricia Merbreier were jointly named "Persons of the Year" by the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia. Both insisted that their names be listed as Captain Noah and Mrs. Noah on the award. Carter Merbreier also served on the board of directors for the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia. Patricia Merbreier died on June 23, 2011, aged 86, following a long illness. Merbreier died at the age of 90, on August 9, 2016, he was survived by his daughter and two grandchildren.

References

External links

W. Carter Merbreier on YouTube
accessed July 25, 2015. {{DEFAULTSORT:Merbreier, Carter 1926 births 2016 deaths American television personalities 20th-century American Lutheran clergy American chaplains American people of German descent People from Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania