We lost Jules Huffman last week at the age of 91. The retired WSAZ weatherman was better known to generations of kids as “Mr. Cartoon,” the host of a daily (later weekly) cartoon show on WSAZ that for most of its run aired at 5 PM, right after school.
The outstanding thing about Huffman was that he was a genuinely nice man. I met him a couple of times as an adult working in the television business, and he treated everyone, from a major TV executive to a lowly production assistant, with respect. I’ve heard dirt on almost every local broadcaster, and he’s one of the few people that had no dirt to tell. He was just the same nice guy that you saw on TV.
Today we’re bringing you two video clips of the man in action. That’s a ten-minute excerpt up top, with a longer video below from the 1985 Charleston Regatta. He was the last of a generation of cartoon-show hosts, and a lot of “Cartooners” are really bummed out by his passing.
great memories, huh?