Lets set the record straight. Tex Antoine was not fired because he was drunk. He was fired because he made a rape joke in the air in 1976. Apparently during the 6 pm newscast, there was a story about an attempted rape of an 8 year old girl. Right after that story, they switched to weather. Tex Antoine said "with rape so predominant in the news lately, it is well to remember the words of Confucius: if rape is inevitable, lie back and enjoy it." He was never seen on air again on WABC. He resurfaced briefly on WNEW Channel 5 in 1978 and then retired.
I specifically remember this guy doing the weather for a New York City TV station during the 1970s--I was 9 or 10. He didn't have that gig for long. What I vividly recall is my father becoming angry, because the weatherman was bumbling incompetently through his segment--"He's DRUNK!" Even a kid like me could see that something was wrong with him, but this detail still seemed shocking and incredible. Dad also totally scorned the guy's use of that wooden wall-doll prop. Not long after this, the weatherman ceased to appear on television. In fact, I only discovered his actual name by googling the following search term: "drunk weatherman New York 1970s". Yup--that's the guy.
When I was stationed in Germany (Nov '71 to Jul '74) I was sent to "Field Sanitation" school in Nurnburg...I was quite surprised to see Tex Antoine (whom I only knew as "Uncle Weathbee" on ABC Eyewitness News) appear in the Army training Films on that subject...none of my fellow students were from the NYC area and had no idea what I was yammering about during that film...Vets from my era and previoulsly may remember the Army trainig films that every GI watched at some point during his/her time in service. BTW, I still refer to the local ABC affiliate here iun the WPB area (Ch 25, WPBF) as Channel 7 even after 35 plus years in S FL
after tex,more crazy weather persons appeared are lloyd lynsay young(n.y. and san francisco),mark mathis (charlotte,denver,sacremento,el paso,and fill in on daily buzz) and andrew w.k.
According to what I've read, one evening in 1976, his weather segment followed a report on the rape of a 5-year-old girl. Apparently aware of the rape story, but not of the victim's age, he ad-libbed something like, "If rape is inevitable, just lie back and enjoy it." This effectively ended his career.
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CB in FL
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