The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia

Herb Clarke
WCAU-TV News Set
1995

Broadcast Pioneers member Herb Clarke has been a Philadelphian for most of his life. He came to WCAU-TV, Channel 10 on Monday, November 24, 1958 as the Atlantic Weatherman replacing Bob Feldman, known on the air as Bob Graham. This was less than three months after CBS took over ownership of the station. In between the time of Herb's hiring and the day he arrived, the weather was temporarily done by Broadcast Pioneers member Bill Bransome.

Born on Sunday, July 10, 1927, Herb Clarke reported the weather news on Channel 10 from 1958 through 1998. Most of that time, he was employed by CBS. From 1995 until his retirement in 1998, his employer was NBC, a division of General Electric.

His longevity as a nightly performer in the same major television market on the same major television station is unequaled worldwide. In addition to reporting the weather, Herb Clarke has served as news anchor and as host of various series and special programs.

Herb continues in broadcasting as the spokesperson for PECO (The Philadelphia Electric Company) Energy and a major auto complex. Until 2005, he did the daily "Garden Report" heard on KYW Newsradio here in Philadelphia.

Herb Clarke's broadcast career started in 1948 in his hometown of Eden, North Carolina. He also worked at WRVA radio in Richmond, Virginia and as News Director of their television station, WRVA-TV prior to joining WCAU-TV.

He attended Pfeiffer University in North Carolina and has a degree in journalism from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. In 1989, he was granted an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Eastern College in St. Davids, PA, a suburb of Philadelphia.

Herb Clarke is an United States Navy veteran of the Second World War and the Korean Conflict. One of Herb's main loves is fishing. Another is flying.

He has been active in many civic and church organizations over the years. They include being an elder of the Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church; Presbyterian Medical Center, Philadelphia, Board of Trustees, 1980-1995; Philadelphia Presbytery Homes, Trustee, 1985-1990; Presbyterian Foundation for Philadelphia, 1995-1997; Presbyterian Children's Village, Trustee; Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, council, 1981 to the present; The Philadelphia Flower Show, Executive Council to the present; Show chairman of the Flower Show, 1987-1989; The Broadcast Pioneers, Philadelphia Chapter (now an independent entity called the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia), past president; member of the Philadelphia Broadcast Pioneers' Hall of Fame; member, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Overbrook Golf Club and the Rotary International.

Herb Clarke was President of the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia during the 1988-1989 years. He was named PERSON OF THE YEAR in 1990 by our organization and was inducted into our Hall of Fame in 1994. Clarke has served decades on our Board of Directors.

Herb Clarke and his wife, Barbara, live in Bryn Mawr, PA with a home in Virginia. They have three children; John, of Richmond, Virginia; Robert, of Durham, North Carolina and Ann of San Francisco. The Clarkes have two grandsons.

Woods Mattingley, a visitor to our website e-mailed from Thailand:

I was a TV cameraman at WRVA-TV in Richmond from 1956-1959, then moved to WAVY-TV, Norfolk. I found your wonderful website and have since downloaded many old-time camera and studio photos, for memory lane.

While at Channel 12, Richmond, I operated a DuMont camera, but when I moved to WAVY, I graduated to a TK-30 RCA. What a difference!

I was one of Herb Clarke's cameramen; don't know if he will remember me, but I recall him as a pro and knew he made the right move to Channel 10, Philadelphia. He wore both newscaster and weatherman caps at Channel 12.

...The Channel 12 studio had a large pair of doors which opened from the studio to the parking lot. One night it began to snow. The director and the weathercaster said to throw open the doors, and we shot the nighttime weather show with snow flakes falling behind the weatherman. It was a first for us.

...I...returned to college. I wish I had stayed in broadcast TV, but the ministry ultimately called. I started an educational New Age ministry in San Jose...and eventually taught in Japan, Vietnam and Thailand, where I now live (retired).

The e-mail address of the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia is pioneers@broadcastpioneers.com