Background
Woodie Assaf was born to Lebanese immigrants Ellis and Esma Assaf in McComb, Mississippi on March 15, 1917.
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Woodie Assaf
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He graduated from McComb High School, and then attended Southwest Mississippi Junior College and Louisiana State University.
Career
He worked at WLBT television in Jackson from 1953 to 2001, and after his retirement he was reported to be the weatherman with the longest tenure at the same station in United States. broadcasting history. He served as an Army training officer during World World War World War II He first worked in radio in WSKB in McComb in 1937. After this he worked for radio stations in Vicksburg and Jackson.
Assaf started working for WLBT television in Jackson in 1953, on the first day it went on the air (December 20, 1953).
In the beginning he did a variety of jobs at the station, including recording commercials, selling advertising, and reporting news, sports and weather. Eventually he became the “weather man,” giving weather reports on the station.
(He was not a meteorologist and did not claim to be He qualified all his weather reports with the line "The weatherman told me to tell you…") He became a well-known and iconic figure in Mississippi throughout his time at WLBT, also due to his efforts in fundraising and community activities. He annually hosted the Easter Seals Telethon.
In 1969 he hosted a benefit starring Bob Hope that raised over $2.5 million for victims of Hurricane Camille.
He emceed numerous beauty pageants and special events throughout the state. In 1996 he carried the Olympic torch, representing WLBT-television In 1999, a Clarion-Ledger readers" poll voted him Mississippi"s most popular television personality of the millennium. They had two daughters.
Woodie Assaf died of natural causes at Riggs Manor Retirement Center in Raymond, Mississippi, on November 13, 2009.
