Jonathan Meath

Jonathan Meath (born September 16, 1955) is an American TV producer based in Boston who is notable for children's television production.[5][6] He was Senior Producer of the TV game show Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?[7] He produced Zoom (1999)[8][9] and The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss.[6] He co-founded a production company called Andanzura.[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 ABC's Good Morning America show,[11] and at New York's Radio City Music Hall with The Rockettes.[11][12][13] He appeared on the cover of Boston Magazine as Father Christmas. He was described by National Public Radio[14][15] and Time Magazine as a "top Santa",[16] and appeared as Santa in a Delta Airline's in-flight safety video.[16]

Jonathan Meath
Meath as Santa Claus on November 13, 2010
Born (1955-09-16) September 16, 1955
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
EducationAndover (1974)
Alma materNYU (1979)
OccupationTV producer,
Santa
Years active1980s–present (television career)
2007–present (as Santa Claus)
EmployerAndanzura
ChildrenAmelia Meath
AwardsPeabody Award
Emmy nominations[1]
Carnegie Medal 2005[2][3]
Websitemeathmedia[4]

Television career

Meath attended Phillips Academy and graduated in 1974 with the school's first co–educational class.[10] 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. 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.

Career

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][16] 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][15][17] In 2009, he appeared in a thirty-second television commercial spot for the Boston Red Sox baseball team.[16]

Charity work

Meath promoted charity events such as the Red Sox's "Jimmy Fund Fundraiser" (2008), the Nature Center in New Canaan, CT, and the Dana–Farber Children's Clinic (2009).[21] As Santa, he visited children who are cancer patients in hospitals.[21] In addition, he supports the non–profit performing group Revels and has sung as a tenor on two of their CD albums.

Personal life

Meath has one child and lives in Newburyport, Massachusetts. His mother was activist and historian Mary Stewart Hewitt.[22] 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.[22] Through this, Meath is distantly related to John Kerry. Meath's daughter, Amelia Randall Meath, is a member of the bands Mountain Man[23] and Sylvan Esso.

Awards
Year Result Award Category Notes
2005 Won Carnegie Medal Excellence in children's videos FableVision's The Dot[2][24]
Nominated Daytime Emmy Outstanding Pre-School Children's Series Paz[25]
2001 Nominated Outstanding Children's Series Zoom[26]
2000 Nominated Zoom[27]
1997 Nominated Emmy Outstanding Children's Program The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss[1][26]
1996 Nominated Daytime Emmy Outstanding Children's Series Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?[26]
1993 Won George Foster Peabody Award Excellence for overall show Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

Additional source for awards: Phillips Academy website [28]

References
  1. "Jonathan Meath". Primetime Emmy Award Database. 1997. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
  2. "Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Children's Video winners, 1991 to present". Association for Library Service for Children. 2005. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  3. "Awards for Jonathan G. Meath". IMDb Internet Movie Database. 2001. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  4. Jonathan Meath (2010-11-13). "Jonathan Meath". MeathMedia. Archived from the original on 2010-10-30. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  5. "Famous Folks from Cambridge". The Boston Globe and Boston.com. 26 March 2012. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
  6. Liam Murphy (2009-10-23). "Jonathan Meath '74 Pursued Children's Television Production After Cultivating His Interests at PA" (PDF). Phillips Academy. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-12-09. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  7. "Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time". allgame. 2010-11-13. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  8. "Jonathan Meath". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-11-03. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  9. "Jonathan Meath". Yahoo! TV. 2010-11-13. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  10. Liam Murphy (October 26, 2009). "Jonathan Meath '74 Pursued Children's Television Production After Cultivating His Interests at PA". The Philippian. Archived from the original on August 9, 2011. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  11. Alex E. Weaver (December 7, 2012). "'The Harvard of Santa Schools': Tracking Kris Kringle to the Classroom". BostInno. Retrieved December 12, 2012.
  12. Rich Whittle (December 12, 2007). "Swingin' Santa Finds Singing's Big Business". Boston Herald. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  13. Mary Ann Georgantopoulos (December 23, 2007). "Miracle on Mass. Ave.: City Santa takes suit seriously". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  14. Win Rosenfeld (December 25, 2007). "America's Next Top Santa". National Public Radio. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  15. "Santa in town for May Day parade". Seacoastonline.com. April 24, 2008. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  16. Olivia B. Waxman, Dec. 09, 2013, Time Magazine, These Are the 11 Best Santas in the U.S. – And where to find them, Accessed Dec. 10, 2013
  17. "Why Should We Believe in Santa?". 2011-10-12.
  18. Santa Glen, secretary (October 2010). "Minutes of meeting". San Diego Chapter of F.O.R.B.S. Archived from the original on 2010-10-22. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  19. Edward B. Colby (December 3, 2009). "Town in the spirit: Dedham Square to be filled with song, shopping". Dedham Transcript. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  20. Billy Baker (December 11, 2012). "Real or fake beards? Santas split hairs". Boston Globe. Retrieved December 12, 2012.
  21. Monica Brady-Myerov (December 22, 2009). "Santa Pays A Special Visit". wbur.org 99.9 radio. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
  22. "Mary Stewart Hewitt". Monadnock Ledger-Transcript. January 10, 2010. Archived from the original on February 21, 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
  23. Lester, Paul (2010-06-07). "New Band of the Week: Mountain Man". The Guardian.
  24. "FableVision Recognized as 2005 Carnegie Medal Co-Recipient". FableVision Fable Flash. 2005. Archived from the original on 2011-07-10. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  25. "32nd ANNUAL DAYTIME EMMY AWARD NOMINATIONS". NATIONAL TELEVISION ACADEMY. March 2, 2005. Archived from the original on November 22, 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
  26. "Outstanding Children's Series". Internet Movie Database. 2001. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
  27. "Outstanding Children's Series". Internet Movie Database. 2000. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  28. "Jonathan Meath 1974". Phillips Academy. 2010-11-14. Archived from the original on 2014-04-07. Retrieved 2010-11-14.
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