Marty Bass

Marty Bass is a television news reporter and weather man for CBS affiliate WJZ 13 in Baltimore, Maryland. Noted for his strong accent and ebullient personality, Bass is a thirty-five year veteran at WJZ and is the co-host of the Baltimore market's #1 rated morning show with Don Scott. The WJZ Morning Edition show was voted "Best of Baltimore" by Baltimore Magazine in 2007. Conversely, in 1996 Bass was once voted the "Best Reason Not to Watch WJZ-TV" by Baltimore alternative weekly Baltimore City Paper.^[1][2][3]

Solicitation Arrest

In late 1985, Bass was arrested for soliciting lewdness ,^[4] essentially soliciting a prostitute. According to reports, on December 4, 1985 Bass solicited a female, undercover police officer in Baltimore's Patterson Park. The undercover cop testified Bass requested oral sex. Bass reportedly countered that he asked to "get into her head." ^[5] Bass was suspended from WJZ-TV until early 1986.

Baldness

On February 9, 2006, Bass addressed a notable piece of Baltimore folklore - the disappearance of his toupee in 1986.

As part of local public radio station WYPR's Stoop Storytelling Series, Bass told the story of how he began to go bald in his early/mid-20s, and that his TV news directors insisted that he wear a hairpiece. After years of wearing a toupee, Bass finally decided to appear on WJZ without a toupee in 1984. He went on vacation with a hairpiece, and returned from vacation without a hairpiece. The "news" story on Marty's missing hair was carried worldwide by Associated Press and UPI. Bass recalled that eventually, he and WJZ decided to "retire" the old toupee to Boca Raton, Florida ("Where the other retired Northwest Baltimore hairpieces go.") and that it was flown, first class, to Florida by Piedmont Airlines.^[6]

Personal

Bass lives in Brooklandville, Maryland with his wife, Sharon, and their two children.^[7]

Sources

1. "CBS/WJZ Marty Bass official bio". Archived from the original on 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2007-10-15.
2. "Best of Baltimore 2007". Baltimore Magazine. Retrieved 2007-10-15. The show is just as disorganized and loose (and comfortable being that way) as we are in the morning--eating oatmeal in our underwear, putting the OJ in the kitchen cabinet instead of the fridge, and getting syrup all over our tie.
3. "Best Reason Not to Watch WJZ-TV News". The City Paper. Retrieved 2007-10-15. His loud and rambling weather reports serve only as vehicles to hog airtime, and afterward you don't have a clue whether to take the umbrella or leave it home.
4. "A Questionable Catch for Cops". Chicago Tribune. 1985-12-15.
5. "Mary Bass Flips His Wig".
6. The Signal, 02/09/06, WYPR
7. "Marty Bass, WJZ-TV anchor". Baltimore Sun.