LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: 'Today' weatherman Al Roker took to Instagram to pay tribute to Dr Frank Field, longtime meteorologist and health reporter at NBC’s New York station WNBC-TV, who died at 100. He died in Florida on July 1, reported WNBC, where he spent 25 years of his career.
WNBC stated that “the broadcast community is remembering a television pioneer today, the legendary Frank Field has died. As the first professional meteorologist in the city, he redefined traditional news by wearing many hats for over five decades.”
Who was Dr Frank Field?
Field attended Brown University and MIT, and was a fellow at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where he studied the relationship between weather and health. He served as an Army Air Force meteorology officer during World War II. According to Deadline, Field did not have a college degree in meteorology and his title was derived from being a weather forecaster in the military. He began his meteorology career at WNBC in 1958.
In addition to being an expert on weather and health, Field has also been credited with publicizing the Heimlich maneuver, a procedure used to save choking victims, by bringing in Dr Henry J Heimlich for a demonstration at the studio. He hosted programs like 'Medical Update' and 'Health Field'.
Field left NBC in 1984 and joined CBS, where he worked for 11 years. He also worked at New York’s WNYW and WWOR before retiring in 2004. He campaigned for fire safety after his TV career ended. Joan Kaplan Field, Frank's wife, also died earlier in 2023. He is survived by three children -- Storm Field, Allison Field (both of whom worked as weather forecasters in New York television) and Pamela Field.
‘Gone at 100’
Roker wrote on Instagram, “Our thoughts and prayers are with the Field family who lost their legendary dad, Dr Frank Field. He was at WNBC when I started doing weekend weather, teaching me the ropes and the lay of the land. Gone at 100, I hope he and Willard are sharing a weather map, a laugh, and some bourbon."
