Frank Field (meteorologist) - Life and Career

Life and Career

Field is of 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 Holocaust, which killed most of his extended family.

He was a First Lieutenant and meteorologist with the 8th Air Force during World War II in the European Theater. His meteorological training was at Brown University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Field holds a B.A. in geology from Brooklyn College, a B.S. in optometry from Columbia University, and an O.D. degree from the Massachusetts College of Optometry. He was on the faculty of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Department of Preventive and Environmental Medicine.

Field began his career in 1958 at WRCA-TV – which became WNBC-TV in 1960 – remaining there for over 25 years. He was friends with Johnny Carson and was a frequent guest on The Tonight Show. On August 12, 1984, Field moved to rival WCBS-TV, where he worked for 11 years. Later, he moved to WNYW-TV for two years before ending his weather forecaster career at WWOR-TV.

Field was noted for his science reports on new technology and medicines. In the 1970s and 1980s, he hosted a nationally-syndicated program on health originating from WNBC, called Health Field, and anchored 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 simulated house fire to show viewers how to survive that catastrophe. He won a local Emmy Award for his work. Dr. Field has now been replaced from Medical Update to retire in Florida.