Dr. Franklyn Field (born 1923) is a television personality and meteorologist who has been on TV in New York City for five decades. His reporting on Science and health, has proven valuable to the NYC TV broadcasting area. He was the first to report the Heimlich Maneuver to aid food choking victims.^[1]

Dr. Field carries the Seal of Approval of the American Meteorological Society.

Field was a resident of Montclair, New Jersey, before retiring to Boca Raton, Florida.^[2]

[edit] History

He is of Polish/German - Ashkenazi Jewish heritage, the original family name was "Feld" which is German for "field". It was changed to Field to Americanize his last name. Because his parents emigrated to America in 1909, they avoided the Nazi Holocaust, which wound up killing most of his uncles, aunts and cousins. The area his family is from was Eastern Germany and is now Polish territory.

He began his career at WRCA-TV in 1957 (WRCA-TV became WNBC-TV in 1960), remaining there for over 25 years. He was friends with Johnny Carson and was a guest on The Tonight Show many times. Johnny Carson visited Dr. Field whom he called NBC's "Crack Meteorologist" in the WNBC studios during the news and was reprimanded for it because of the seriousness of the news back then.^{[citation needed]}

On August 12, 1984, Dr. Field moved to rival WCBS-TV, where he worked for 11 years. Later, he moved over to WNYW-TV for two years before largely ending his career at WWOR-TV.

[edit] Health and Science

Dr. Field was also well known for his acclaimed Science reports on new technology and medicines. In the 1970s and 1980s, Dr. Field hosted a nationally-syndicated program on health originating from WNBC, called Health Field. Dr. Field now anchors a similar health news program on WLNY for the North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System, called Medical Update. He also did a documentary called "Plan To Get Out Alive" where he used a real simulated house fire to show viewers how to survive a fire by "Stop, Drop and Roll" and to stay low because fire smoke tends to rise to the ceiling and flashover. He won an Emmy Award for his work.

[edit] Dr. Field's Children

Dr. Field's son, Storm Field (b. 1949) was a meteorologist at WWOR-TV. He had previously worked at WABC-TV as meteorologist from 1976 to 1990, also serving as anchor of their 5:00 P.M. newscast from 1981 to 1983. Storm Field presented a special in 2003 that highlighted his father's career.

Dr. Field's daughter, Allison, was a meteorologist for WCBS-TV. She also appeared in a few movies, playing reporters or newscasters. She was also a spokesperson for Krups food processors.

[edit] The Holocaust

Most of Dr. Field's family was killed in the Holocaust in Germany. He went back with WCBS to see what was left and found that the Nazis had made roads out of Jewish tombstones. Only Dr. Field's family who fled to America survived. Over half of his cousins had died in Nazi death camps.

[edit] Credentials

Dr. Field was a First Lieutenant and meteorologist with the 8th Air Force during World War II in the European Theater. His meteorology training in the service was at Brown University and MIT. Dr. Field graduated Brooklyn College with a BA in Geology, Columbia University with a BS in Optometry and the Mass. College of Optometry with an OD degree. He was on the faculty of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Department of Preventive and Environmental Medicine. This made him an ideal Health and Science reporter for every station he worked at.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• North Shore LIJ: Medical Update
• Dr Frank Field at the Internet Movie Database
• Storm Field at the Internet Movie Database
• Allison Field at the Internet Movie Database