Rhea Feikin ended more than four decades of service to MPT and its viewers with a final pledge appearance on March 1, 2020.

By any definition, it’s been a most successful and significant broadcasting career, sprung from simple roots and developed through creativity, flexibility, and hard work. The Baltimore native grew up in an apartment behind her parents’ grocery store in Hampden. She attended the University of Maryland, where she starred in stage productions and toured with companies entertaining military troops. Rhea earned a speech pathology degree and became a speech therapist in Baltimore City schools. It was while teaching that she first entered broadcasting with an educational TV show, Betty Better Speech.

However, Rhea’s breakthrough came as host of WBAL-TV’s children’s program Miss Rhea and Sunshine, which she also wrote and produced. Adults learned to know Rhea as co-host of the nightly weather forecast dubbed “Rhea and JP.” When she left WBAL, she established a successful freelance on- and off-camera career.

Rhea was introduced to MPT viewers – and, eventually, those across America – on the 1970s series Consumer Survival Kit. Rhea’s on-air personality soon was recognized by MPT as perfect for a range of other roles. She has hosted Artworks This Week, MPT on Location, Chesapeake Collectibles, and the celebrity interview series Impressions with Rhea Feikin. Yet, most viewers know Rhea from appearances as a pledge host for on-air fundraising campaigns, a role that’s made her recognizable statewide and beyond.

When it was decided in 2010 to honor MPT on-air personalities with stars on an outdoor Walk of Fame, Rhea was first to be recognized for her significance to the network.

Success and significance – the legacy of Rhea Feikin at MPT. Happy retirement, Rhea! Thanks for all you’ve meant to your colleagues and your viewers alike.

Airing Monday, May 18 at 8pm

Join Baltimore filmmaker John Waters, Senator Barbara Mikulski, Producer/Host Donald Thoms, Centerstage's Executive Director Michael Ross and MPT President/CEO Larry Unger as they interview MPT's First Lady, Rhea Feikin about her life and career in television.