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Doug Adair

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Doug Adair (born May 29, 1929, in Xenia, Ohio) is a former longtime Emmy Award winning American television news anchor and journalist who has worked in the Cleveland, Columbus, and Dayton, Ohio markets.

Career

Adair got his start in journalism in television in Dayton in the early 1950s. In 1958 he moved to Cleveland and joined then-CBS-affiliated WJW-TV as a reporter and anchor. Starting in 1964, Adair was paired with Joel Daly and the duo co-anchored City Camera News, the first two-man television newscast in Cleveland. City Camera News was notable for equipping reporters with Polaroid instant cameras, allowing them to take pictures that can be used on the air. The format was successful, and the Adair/Daly team anchored the most-watched newscast in Cleveland. Both men were offered jobs at WLS-TV in Chicago around 1968; Adair chose to stay in Cleveland while Daly accepted. During his time at WJW-TV, Adair's colleagues also included Ernie Anderson, who played horror movie host "Ghoulardi"; Tim Conway, future co-star of McHale's Navy and The Carol Burnett Show; legendary Cleveland meteorologist Dick Goddard; and Bob "Hoolihan" Wells and "Big Chuck" Schodowski, the duo whose Hoolihan and Big Chuck movie show replaced Anderson's "Ghoulardi."

In 1970 Adair left WJW-TV and joined then-NBC-owned WKYC-TV to co-anchor their evening news programs. While at WKYC, Adair worked with notable co-anchors Virgil Dominic, Dave Patterson, and Judd Hambrick; future Today Show meteorologist Al Roker; and Mona Scott, a reporter-turned-weathercaster-turned anchor who would later become his second wife.

In early 1983, Adair moved to Columbus to assume anchor duties at WCMH-TV, that city's NBC affiliate. Mona Scott joined him several months later, and their on-air partnership catapulted WCMH's evening newscasts to the most-watched in Columbus. However, the couple divorced—both on-air and off-air—in 1990. Adair remained at WCMH until 1994, when he retired from television news. Adair was inducted in the Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1992.

Awards and honors

Amongst his awards and accomplishments:

  • Adair has been honored as the state of Ohio's Best TV News Writer.
  • Adair is also a recipient of the Distinguished Service Award of the Society of Professional Journalists.
  • Adair has also received The National Faith and Freedom Award from Religious Heritage of America. The same piece that brought him this award (The Crisis in Christianity) brought him the Catholic Church's National Gabriel Award.
  • The Holy Name Society named him Cleveland's Outstanding Citizen and in the same year he received the First Bishop's Award of the Episcopal Church. The latter was the result of his massive efforts on behalf of needy children in Cleveland and his "Clothes for Christmas Campaign."

Personal life

Adair has been married three times. Doug's first marriage produced three children, and his marriage to former colleague Mona Scott gave him two stepchildren. His current wife, Jean, is a former Roman Catholic nun, and they have resided for many years in the Dublin, Ohio area. For many years, he was involved in harness racing and owned horses.

  • [1] Doug Adair biography article at Cleveland Seniors' Website
  • [2] Doug Adair bio sketch at Ohio Broadcasters Hall OF Fame website, accessed 2008-01-12.

References

  • [3] Doug Adair on Broadcasters' Hall OF Fame inductee list, accessed 2008-01-12.
  • [4] Where Are They Now? Doug Adair and Mona Scott, accessed 2015-12-12.
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