Joan Klein Weidman
Joan Haenle Klein Weidman (née Klein; August 8, 1933 – June 25, 2019) was an American television broadcaster, host, weathercaster, and anchor known for being a television pioneer[1] at WGAL in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and for her music talents as well.
Early life and education
Klein was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She attended concerts with her mother at age three, and studied piano starting at age seven.[2] She played bass fiddle in the Manheim Township High School jazz band, graduating in 1951. In 1955, she graduated from the Eastman School of Music, where she worked for the university radio station as program director and hosted her own program.[2]
Career
Like Marijane Landis and Barbara Allen, Klein was a WGAL TV pioneer who joined WGAL in 1955 and paved the way for women to be in local broadcasting. By 1957, she had her own five-day per week "Joan Klein Show".[2] Her half hour show included news, weather, cooking tips, interviews, and farm reports.[3] She interviewed well-known entertainers and guests of the time including Wendy Barrie, who was in town for summer stock theater, Eddie Bracken, Cliff Arquette, and Ann B. Davis.[2] She worked at WGAL for 13 years and on Noonday on 8 from its inception in 1961,[4] retiring from the show before the birth of her first child.[5]
She performed as a pianist in the Lancaster Symphony Orchestra.[3] In 1965, she appeared as the character Mae in a local theater production of the musical The Pajama Game. She contrasted the theater experience where one needed to project their voice and keep moving on stage with working in a television studio, where one needed to speak more quickly, sit still, and stay in frame.[6]
Personal life
She married Richard K. Weidman (who was WGAL's graphic artist and art director for 41 years) in September 1958[2] and had two children. She is related to the Shriver family through her father Frederic Shriver Klein, who was a professor at Franklin & Marshall College.[7]
Klein died on June 25, 2019, at the Mennonite Home in Lancaster after an illness at the age of 85.[1]
References
- ^ a b "Joan Klein Weidman". Lancaster Online. June 29, 2019. Retrieved June 26, 2025.
- ^ a b c d e "1958 Was Eventful Year For Channel 8's Joan Klein". Sunday News. Lancaster, Pennsylvania. October 26, 1958. pp. 1, 42 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "The Gal To Watch At Noon". The Baltimore Sun. March 22, 1964. p. 16 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Do you remember these classic WGAL shows?". WGAL. 15 March 2024. Retrieved Mar 15, 2024.
- ^ "Barbara Allen is Replacing Joan Klein In Noonday on 8". Sunday News. Lancaster, Pennsylvania. January 15, 1967 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Joan Klein Putting Best Foot Forward In Stage Show". Sunday News. June 20, 1965 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ Brubaker, Jack (October 10, 2003). "The Shrivers, Mrs. Terminator's family, came from around here". Lancaster New Era. p. A10 – via newspapers.com.