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Don Herbert

 
Actor: Don Herbert
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Actors
  • Born: Jul 10, 1917 in Waconia, Minnesota
  • Died: Jun 12, 2007 in Los Angeles, California
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '50s, '70s-'80s
  • Major Genres: Science & Technology, Children's/Family

Biography

Don Herbert was more popularly known as Mr. Wizard, beloved TV personality and science teacher to millions. On his show, Mr. Wizard's World, Herbert taught viewers about science and technology with clever demonstrations and instructions for trying his wondrous experiments at home. Herbert's love of science began early on, as he majored in general science at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse; however, he was also interested in acting. Though he would eventually combine his two interests and create a lifelong career that utilized them both, Herbert's immediate plans were cut short when WWII erupted and the young man enlisted in the Army and later the Air Force, where he became a B-24 Bomber pilot. He was discharged in 1945 after achieving the rank of captain and being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal.

After the war, Herbert worked in radio until he pitched an idea for a TV show to Chicago's NBC station and they accepted it. Premiering in 1951, Watch Mr. Wizard broadcast live and found the host performing experiments for young viewers, with the help of a young assistant. The popular show lasted for 547 episodes, after which Herbert continued to act on his abiding love of teaching kids about the wonders of the world around them, producing educational films for schools, and opening a science and learning center in Boston. In 1983, Herbert developed Mr. Wizard's World, an updated version of his original show with a faster pace that aired on the kids' network Nickelodeon. The show was another huge hit, and it ran until 1990, turning on a whole new generation to the magic of science and technology.

Herbert received many awards over the course of his career, including the Peabody award, the Thomas Alva Edison National Mass Media Award, and Robert A. Millikan award from the American Association of Physics Teachers. Herbert died in 2007 of bone cancer at the age of 89. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
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Mr. Wizard's World: Puzzles, Problems and Impossibilities

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For the man who woke from a coma, see Don Herbert (firefighter).
Don Herbert
Born Donald Jeffrey Herbert Kemske
July 10, 1917
Waconia, Minnesota
Died June 12, 2007 (aged 89)
Bell Canyon, California
Official website

Donald Jeffrey Herbert (born Donald Jeffrey Herbert Kemske;[1][2] July 10, 1917 – June 12, 2007), better known as Mr. Wizard, was an American television personality. He hosted two television shows about science aimed at children.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Herbert was a general science and English major at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse (then called La Crosse State Normal College) who was interested in drama. His career as an actor was interrupted by World War II when he enlisted in the United States Army as a Private. Herbert later joined the United States Army Air Forces, took pilot training, and became a B-24 bomber pilot who flew 56 combat missions with the Fifteenth Air Force, flying out of a base in Italy. When Herbert was discharged in 1945, he was a Captain and had earned the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters.

Mr. Wizard

After the war, Herbert worked at a radio station in Chicago where he acted in children's programs such as the documentary health series It's Your Life (1949). It was during this time that Herbert formulated the idea of Mr. Wizard and a general science experiments show that utilized the new medium of television. Herbert's idea was accepted by Chicago NBC station WNBQ, and the series Watch Mr. Wizard premiered on March 3, 1951. The weekly 30-minute show,co-produced by Jules Power,[3] featured Herbert as Mr. Wizard, with a young assistant who watched while Herbert performed interesting science experiments.[4] The experiments, many of which seemed impossible at first glance, were usually simple enough to be re-created by viewers. The show was very successful. 547 live episodes were created before it was canceled in 1965. Herbert won a Peabody Award for his work on the program in 1953.[5]

After his show was canceled, Herbert produced films for junior and senior high schools, wrote several books on science, and in 1969 developed a Mr. Wizard Science Center located outside Boston, Massachusetts. (The center no longer exists.)

The show was briefly revived in the 1971–1972 season as Mr. Wizard, produced in Canada by CJOH-TV in Ottawa; this series was seen on NBC, as well as CBC Television in Canada.

In 1982, Don Herbert was a guest on the first ever episode of Late Night with David Letterman.

Opening credits of Mr. Wizard's World

In 1983, Herbert developed Mr. Wizard's World, a faster-paced version of his show that was shown three times a week on the cable channel Nickelodeon. The show ran until 1990, and reruns were shown until 2000, making it the longest running show on Nickelodeon.

In 1993, children's science show Beakman's World paid homage to Herbert by naming its two penguin puppet characters "Don" and "Herb" after him.

In 1994, Herbert developed another new series of 15-minute spots called Teacher to Teacher with Mr. Wizard. The spots highlighted individual elementary science teachers and their projects. The series was sponsored by the National Science Foundation and was shown on Nickelodeon.

Herbert died of multiple myeloma on June 12, 2007, at his home in Bell Canyon, California.[5]

Awards

Notes

  1. ^ Gilkey George R. (1981), A History of the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse, 1909-1979, The University of Wisconsin–La Crosse Foundation, p. 229, http://murphylibrary.uwlax.edu/digital/uwl/Gilkey/text.htm 
  2. ^ Rindfleisch, Terry. A life remembered: 'Mr. Wizard' let kids experience science. La Crosse Tribune. June 14, 2007.
  3. ^ Hevesi, Dennis: Jules Power, 87, a producer of 'Mr. Wizard' on TV The New York Times October 15, 2009
  4. ^ "Don Herbert, 89; TV's Mr. Wizard Taught Science...", Los Angeles Times, June 13, 2007
  5. ^ a b Goldstein, Richard (June 13, 2007). "Don Herbert, 'Mr. Wizard' to Science Buffs, Dies at 89". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/13/arts/13herbert.html. 

External links

Search Wikinews Wikinews has related news: Television's 'Mr. Wizard' Don Herbert dies at 89

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