'Today's' Willard Scott Announces Retirement

Ed Walker, Willard Scott 'The Joy Boys WRC Radio Washington DC

81-year-old Willard Scott weather forecaster and centenarian birthday-wisher, who has been with NBC's flagship morning program "Today" for 35 years, is retiring, the show said Friday.

"Some bittersweet news. After 65 years at NBC -- 35 of them on this show -- our beloved friend, Willard Scott, is retiring," "Today" host Matt Lauer said.

Though Scott hasn't been the regular weather forecaster on "Today" since 1996, when Al Roker took over full time, he has been a regular and comforting presence on the show with his greetings to 100-year-old celebrants.

Willard, a Washington-area native, started with NBC's Washington radio station WRC in 1950 as a page. Through the years, he has been a radio host, a children's television character, a local weather forecaster and a "Today" mainstay.

From 1955 to 1972, Scott teamed with Ed Walker as co-host of the nightly Joy Boys radio program on WRC 980 AM. (This was interrupted from 1956 to 1958 when Scott served on active duty with the U.S.Navy.) Scott routinely sketched a list of characters and a few lead lines setting up a situation, which Walker would commit to memory or make notes on with his Braille typewriter (Walker was blind since birth).

Walker, Scott

In a 1999 article recalling the Joy Boys at the height of their popularity in the mid-1960s, The Washington Post said they "dominated Washington, providing entertainment, companionship, and community to a city on the verge of powerful change". The Joy Boys show played on WRC until 1972 when they moved to cross-town station WWDC for another two years. Scott wrote in his book, The Joy of Living, of their close professional and personal bond which continued until Walker's death in October 2015, saying that they are "closer than most brothers".

Scott spent the 1960s balancing his radio career with jobs as the host of children's television programs. He appeared on WRC-TV in Washington, D.C., playing characters such as Commander Retro and Bozo the Clown. In 1970, Scott began appearing on WRC-TV as a weekday weatherman.

And, of course, he was Ronald McDonald for several years, something the burger chain remembered Friday.

What an amazing 65 years. Congrats Willard Scott on an incredible career! And we remember where it all started! #FBF pic.twitter.com/fkxkGzj8Y3

— McDonald's (@McDonalds) December 11, 2015