Radio Icon. A fashion model of note and a sometimes actress, she is remembered as media's first successful weather girl who entertained NBC listeners of the late 1950s by giving meteorological reports in her sexy Southern drawl. Born Dorothy Ruth Thurman to a well-off family, she was raised in eastern Georgia and originally intended to become an artist. While studying at Washington's Corcoran Gallery of Art she became a favorite subject for the other painters and soon moved to New York where she was hired by the Ford Modeling Agency. Changing her name to 'Theodora' and then shortening it to 'Tedi', she found herself busy and was to grace the covers of "Cosmopolitan", "Vogue", and similar publications while picking up occasional acting jobs. Tedi appeared on "Studio One" and got into one movie, Ed Wood's 1954 schlock piece "Jail Bait", then during a modeling gig on the "Today" show was spotted and asked to audition for NBC's upcoming weekend radio series "Monitor". The program ran for 20 years and up thru 1961 Tedi was a regular, heard every hour and building a large following with her sexually alluring weather forecasts set to music. A frequent guest on the "Tonight" show during the Jack Paar years, she was popular there as well; after leaving "Monitor" in 1961 she lived out her days in Southern California, retaining a fan base and, according to reports, her seductive voice, to the end of her life. Tedi died following a brief illness; she can be heard on some archived broadcasts.
Radio Icon. A fashion model of note and a sometimes actress, she is remembered as media's first successful weather girl who entertained NBC listeners of the late 1950s by giving meteorological reports in her sexy Southern drawl. Born Dorothy Ruth Thurman to a well-off family, she was raised in eastern Georgia and originally intended to become an artist. While studying at Washington's Corcoran Gallery of Art she became a favorite subject for the other painters and soon moved to New York where she was hired by the Ford Modeling Agency. Changing her name to 'Theodora' and then shortening it to 'Tedi', she found herself busy and was to grace the covers of "Cosmopolitan", "Vogue", and similar publications while picking up occasional acting jobs. Tedi appeared on "Studio One" and got into one movie, Ed Wood's 1954 schlock piece "Jail Bait", then during a modeling gig on the "Today" show was spotted and asked to audition for NBC's upcoming weekend radio series "Monitor". The program ran for 20 years and up thru 1961 Tedi was a regular, heard every hour and building a large following with her sexually alluring weather forecasts set to music. A frequent guest on the "Tonight" show during the Jack Paar years, she was popular there as well; after leaving "Monitor" in 1961 she lived out her days in Southern California, retaining a fan base and, according to reports, her seductive voice, to the end of her life. Tedi died following a brief illness; she can be heard on some archived broadcasts.
Bio by: Bob Hufford
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