Obituary: Bob Dale (May 29, 2008)

The whimsical bowtied weatherman Bob Dale died at the age of 83 on Monday according to the NBC San Diego website.

In a letter from 1987, Bob Dale wrote me to say that he was born on March 26th, 1925. He sent the letter with a caricature of himself below with stationery from the second station he worked at, which was KCST, the former call letters for KNSD San Diego,

Dale began his career in 1948 at WEWS-TV in Cleveland where he hosted several live shows. In 1956, Dale took his doctor's advice to head to San Diego because his ears were going bad due to his service in World War II.

On WEWS, he hosted free-form shows with titles such as "Charade Parade" and "Dinner Platter." He clowned around, used sound effects, played records, told jokes and stories -- anything to pass the time.

He was hired by KFMB-TV in 1956 and first did weather reports on the station's news in the 60s. In the mid 70s, he also hosted an afternoon movie show, back then when movie reruns were still being syndicated to local TV stations. He also did weather reports for Sun Up San Diego, the daily morning show. He also hosted the syndicated Zoorama, the show about the San Diego Zoo. He also hosted his own daily talk show in which celebrity guests sat on barber chairs. Among the guests he interviewed were Bob Hope, Woody Allen and Don Rickles.

In 1977, he was unceremoniously let go by KFMB, but was hired by KCST the following year. KCST launched their local news operation in 1975 and was struggling to gain traction in San Diego. He not only did the weather reports, he also hosted another afternoon movie show there.

Still with his trademark bowtie and good manners, Dale continued through the 80s and the 90s on KNSD. He retired from weather reporting in 2003.

Bob Dale also was an occasional guest on Cox Cable channel 4's interview show "Cabletalk" hosted by then Cox chief man Bob McRann, who sometimes interviewed Bob Dorian of American Movie Classics and invited Dale for a threesome roundtable discussion on the state of movies from today and the past.

Doing a Google search, one of the last shows he appearred on was as a guest on was "Forefront with Bob Dale" for Channel 4 San Diego in August of 2002.

Dale was given the Golden Circle Award by the National Academy of Television Arts. Recipients have television careers spanning 50 or more years.

Bob Dale was an original — not just one of the best known faces and voices in San Diego, but an original television performer.

Dale was cremated Wednesday.

Bob Dale was a year and a few months younger than another longtime Bob, Bob Barker, who just retired from hosting The Price is Right last year. Barker was born in 1923.

Says Bob in an interview to San Diego Union Tribune in a 1996 article: "Aw, let's be honest about it, I'm a local yokel," said Dale, whose familiar aw-shucks manner in his KNSD/Channel 39 weathercasts (5 and 6 p.m.) is no act. "I'm not a big star. I just do stuff on television, talk a lot and fool around and do the weather. Nothing of any lasting importance." What might surprise even longtime viewers is that unlike virtually every other TV personality, Dale refuses to use makeup or hair spray. What's more, he's never used a prompter or a script. Instead, he wings it by being nobody but himself.

Thank you, Bob, for being the inspiration for many weather reporters today.

Read more here:

NBC San Diego: San Diego TV Legend Dies

Archive from 1996: Bob Dale