Barry ZeVan
August 5, 1937 – January 1, 2020
“Barry ZeVan the Weather Man”
Singer at five, child actor in New York, Air Force weather technician, and for half a century the forecaster who wouldn’t turn his back on you. Barry brought the weather — and a great deal of joy — to Missoula, Las Vegas, Honolulu, Washington, Detroit and, above all, the Twin Cities.
The peek-a-boo
On his very first weathercast, in Missoula, Montana, Barry found himself facing the map with his back to the camera. “That’s very rude,” he thought. “You’re supposed to look at your audience.” So he kept glancing back over his shoulder. His boss told him it would be his meal ticket — and it was. He drew every forecast by hand, black marker on a paper map, with a pun never far away.
A life on the air
- 1943 — First broadcast, singing on KDKA radio in Pittsburgh at age five.
- 1950s — Teen actor on Mister Peepers and a regular on The Perry Como Show; then the Air Force, where he trained in meteorology.
- 1957–1970 — Weather in Missoula, Idaho Falls, Honolulu, Canada and Las Vegas, where the Strip’s headliners tuned in.
- 1970–1974 — KSTP-TV, Minneapolis–St. Paul. His weather drew a 51% share of the audience — a record.
- 1974–1982 — WJLA in Washington, then WJBK and WDIV in Detroit, where he gave a pun-loving high-schooler named Paul Gross the station’s first weather internship.
- 1983–1987 — Back in the Twin Cities on Channel 11 (WTCN/WUSA, now KARE): weather, entertainment editor, and interviews with Bob Hope, David Letterman, Shirley MacLaine and more.
- 2006 — Telly Award as executive producer of American Indian Homelands, narrated by Sam Donaldson.
- 2013 — Inducted into the Pavek Museum’s Minnesota Broadcasting Hall of Fame.
- 2016 — Published his memoir, My Life Among the Giants, written at the urging of his friend Jerry Stiller.
- 2019 — Back on the air one more time with Retro Weather, introduced by Louie Anderson. He taped his last episode days before he died.
“My total wish is to end my life while I’m still — quote — back on the air.”
Barry ZeVan, MPR News, 2016
Watch Barry
More of Barry: his Retro Weather channel and the archive clips preserved by TCMediaNow.
From a friend
I met Barry in 2008. He was kind, like an uncle to me — even in the years he worked alongside me. We traveled together, sat at big tables and went after our dreams together: Tractors For Peace, the Alps in 2011, and the Traditions & Hope board, where he served until the end. This page is here so his forecast keeps going. — Gene Chase