‘Mr. Wizard’ dies at 89

(LA Times) Don Herbert, who explained the wonderful world of science to young baby boomers on television in the 1950s and ’60s as “Mr. Wizard” and did the same for a later generation of youngsters on the Nickelodeon cable TV channel in the 1980s, died today. He was 89. Herbert died at his home in Bell Canyon after a long battle with multiple myeloma, said Tom Nikosey, Herbert’s son-in-law.

A 1940 graduate of LaCrosse State Teachers College who served as an Army Air Forces pilot during World War II, Herbert worked as an actor and model before launching his weekly science show on NBC in 1951. Broadcast live from Chicago the first three years and then from New York, “Watch Mr. Wizard” ran for 14 years.

The show won a Peabody Award, three Thomas Alva Edison Awards, four Ohio State University awards and two Emmy nominations.