Who is this black man on the Today Show?

November 10, 2006 6:23 AM

Who is this black man on the Today show?

No, not Al Roker. Every morning, when the cameras go outside of the studio, there is one man who is there every single day. He is a black man with largish glasses, and he's nearly always wearing some kind of hat (a cowboy hat, a woolie...something.) He's got a thin mustache, or maybe a goatee. When the camera passes by him, he always points directly at the camera, never smiling. It's a strange gesture and the fact that he's never smiling is odd, especially since he's surrounded by screaming midwest moms and kids with birthday signs.

I don't think he works for the show, because he's always on the other side of the fence. Al will talk to all of the people around him, but he never speaks to this guy. Here's a picture of him.

I have absolutely no reason to want to know who this guy is. Except that he's there every single day, and that whole "pointing at the camera thing."

Any insights, NY Mefites? (I'm certainly not asking anyone to go ask this guy who he is, but...okay, maybe I am.)

posted by ColdChef to media & arts (8 comments total)

I've always wondered what this guy's story is, too. I have seen Al acknowledge and even talk to him, though, but I've never seen him speak.
posted by steef at 6:40 AM on November 10, 2006

Is this the guy? (The page is kinda screwy in Firefox - not sure if it works in IE)
posted by idigress at 6:45 AM on November 10, 2006

Bah. This is a much better article and with bonus of not being broken in Firefox!
posted by idigress at 6:47 AM on November 10, 2006

Excellent! One less thing to wonder about. Thanks, cc and id!
posted by steef at 7:12 AM on November 10, 2006

Yea, he was there the day I went with my sister, back in July. All the anchors (this was after Katie and before Meredith) came down and spoke to him personally.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:30 AM on November 10, 2006 [1 favorite]

Somehow I knew that MetaFilter would know. Thank you all!
posted by ColdChef at 8:20 AM on November 10, 2006

"Mr. Boyette said he was particularly fond of Ann Curry, the show's news reader, and that he was saddened when she was passed over for Ms. Couric's spot."

Fuck yeah! Ms. Curry is a goddess and a stone fox!
posted by black8 at 2:55 PM on November 10, 2006

This morning, as the camera panned the crowd, when they passed him, Matt said, "Hey, Linny." Neat.
posted by ColdChef at 5:35 AM on November 14, 2006