Jonathan Meath | |
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Born |
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. | September 16, 1955
Education | Phillips Academy (1974) |
Alma mater | New York University (1979) |
Occupations |
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Years active |
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Employer | Andanzura |
Children | Amelia Meath |
Awards |
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Website | meathmedia [4] |
Jonathan Meath (born September 16, 1955) is an American television producer and director. [5] [6] He was senior producer of the television game show Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? [7] He also was a producer of The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss [6] [8] and the 1990s' remake of Zoom. [9] [10] In addition, he is notable for having a dual career as a professional Santa Claus. He made numerous appearances in various media as Santa, including on Good Morning America, [11] at Radio City Music Hall with The Rockettes, [11] [12] [13] on the cover of Boston Magazine, and on a Delta Air Lines' pre-flight safety demonstration. [14] He was described by National Public Radio [15] [16] and Time as a "top Santa". [14]
Meath attended Phillips Academy and graduated in 1974 with the school's first co–educational class. [8] He graduated from New York University in 1979. During the 1980s Meath worked at CBS, Business Times, The Creative Establishment, MTV Networks and Greenwood Productions in various capacities.[ citation needed] During 1996–1998, he produced shows for the Jim Henson Company called The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss. He produced for PBS 295 half-hour episodes of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, as well as 80 episodes of Zoom.
Meath, whose beard and hair went white early in life, [17] noticed that children sometimes called him "Santa". He is slightly overweight — he has described himself as an "organic Santa" [11] — and his wife bought him a red suit. [13] He attended schools to learn the craft of being a Santa. [11] [18] He appeared in parades. [19] He is a professional vocalist. [12] In 2012, he appeared as Santa at Radio City Music Hall for the Christmas Spectacular show in New York City. [11] [14] Meath uses his real beard but conditions it with a "shimmer-like shampoo known as Cowboy Magic, and uses hair gel for his mustache. [20] His role as Santa was described in numerous publications. [12] [16] [17] In 2009, he appeared in a thirty-second television commercial spot for the Boston Red Sox baseball team. [14]
Meath has one child and lives in Newburyport, Massachusetts. His mother was activist and historian Mary Stewart Hewitt. [21] He is the great great grandson of businessman and sportsman John Malcolm Forbes and the great great great grandson of railroad industrialist John Murray Forbes. [21] Through this, Meath is distantly related to John Kerry. Meath's daughter, Amelia Randall Meath, is a member of the bands Mountain Man [22] and Sylvan Esso.
Year | Result | Award | Category | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
2005 | Won | Carnegie Medal | Excellence in children's videos | FableVision's The Dot [2] [23] |
Nominated | Daytime Emmy | Outstanding Pre-School Children's Series | Paz [24] | |
2001 | Nominated | Outstanding Children's Series | Zoom [25] | |
2000 | Nominated | Zoom [26] | ||
1997 | Nominated | Emmy | Outstanding Children's Program | The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss [1] [25] |
1996 | Nominated | Daytime Emmy | Outstanding Children's Series | Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? [25] |
1993 | Won | George Foster Peabody Award | Excellence for overall show | Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? |
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