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The Baltimore Sun | Sunday, June 8, 2025 25
RHEA
FEIKIN
Retired Maryland Public Television host and pledge drive maestro Rhea Feikin isn’t merely a force of nature. She’s all of the fundamental forces combined: gravity,
magnetism — and yes, the type of thermonuclear energy that powers electric generators.
Feikin, 89, often described as “The First Lady of MPT,” has been entertaining Maryland television viewers for six decades: first with WBAL-TV where she hosted
educational shows and the weather, and then with the public television station, where she remained for about 46 years, until her retirement in 2020.
During her career, Feikin hosted such memorable programs as “Artworks This Week,” “Chesapeake Collectibles” and her celebrity interview series, “Impressions
with Rhea Feikin.”
But she is best known for cajoling viewers into opening their wallets for MPT’s annual pledge drives since around 1980. Feikin has done more than 40 of them,
since station officials quickly discovered that she possesses the Midas touch.
Larry Unger, presidentandCEOofMPT,thinksthe
secret to Feikin’s success is a combination of her work
ethic — she’s always prepared — and her authenticity.
Shewasn’tafraidtooccasionallythrowawaythescript
and say what was on her mind, even if that meant telling pledge viewers that she didn’t especially like their
favorite show, so if they wanted to save it, they had
better call in.
“She just comes across on screen like you’ve known
her all your life, “Unger said, “and that’s something
very few people can do.
“I’ve been at Maryland Public Television for 28
years, and the question I get asked most often is, ‘Wow,
do you know Rhea?’ She is beloved. There are people
who don’t like public television, but I’ve never heard
anyone say a bad word about Rhea.”
Describing Feikin as “retired” may be an exaggeration. While she no longer receives a steady paycheck,
she still often anchors MPT pledge drives. In fact, she
hosted one in May.
“I’ve received so many fabulous opportunities with
MPT,” Feikin said.
”I loved that we could program shows (such as
educational shows and in-depth documentaries) on
public television that wouldn’t get programmed on
commercial television.
”I loved working with people who could have made
a lot more money somewhere else, but who stayed at
MPT because they believed in what they were doing.”
Early in her career, Feikin overcame sexist roadblocks — she says she was one of the first women to be
part of a WBAL-TV news show — paving the way for
future generations of broadcasters.
She also was an early champion of LGBTQ+ rights,
according to her longtime pal, the filmmaker John
Waters.
He and Feikin met in 1964 in a gay bar on The Block.
At the time, Waters was about to release his first film,
Name: Rhea Feikin
Age: 89
Hometown: Baltimore
Current residence: Baltimore
Education: Forest Park High School;
University of Maryland, B.A. in speech therapy
Career highlights: About 46 years with
Maryland Public Television, where she
hosted annual pledge drives,“Artworks
This Week,”“Chesapeake Collectibles”
and“Impressions with Rhea Feikin”
Civic and charitable activities: Co-founded
Baltimore Center Stage in 1963
Family: Was married to Colgate Salsbury
(deceased); two children; two grandchildren
“Hag in a Black Leather Jacket.” A year before, Feikin
had been part of a group that founded Baltimore
Center Stage. Both possessed undeniable dramatic
flair, and they hit it off.
“Rhea was an early friend of the gay community,”
Waters said.
“She was always up to go anywhere and explore any
kindofculture.Shecouldcrossoverwithease.Shewas
friendly with the underground, and straight people
weren’t uptight with her as their guide.”
Later,FeikinappearedintwoWatersmovies:“Hairspray” and “Cecil B. Demented.” In the former, Feikin
portrays a geometry teacher who sends Tracy Turnblad and her blackboard-blocking bouffant to the
principal’s office after delivering the immortal line:
“Whatever you call it, it’s a hair-don’t.”
Feikin grew up in Hampden, where her parents
ran a grocery store. Theirs was the rare Jewish family
in their community, and she clearly remembers the
sign over the Meadowbrook swimming pool saying its
services were “only for approved gentiles.”
But while she recognized the antisemitism and
chauvinism that characterized mid-century Baltimore, young Rhea was a sociable child who began
developing her interviewing skills early.
“I loved talking to our customers,” Feikin said.
“I would be in and out of everybody’s houses all day,
finding out about their lives.”
A fourth grade teacher first realized the girl’s potential to connect with audiences and introduced her to
actinglessons—anexperiencethatFeikincreditswith
helping her develop empathy.
”It made me understand how other people felt
because it made me think the thoughts of another
person,” she said.
She pursued acting as a University of Maryland
student, performing on military bases from Iceland
to Bermuda, and continuing into her late 20s, when
she was cast in “La Ronde,” the first show produced
at the new Baltimore Center Stage.
Her encounter with four professional actors taught
heralessonthatturnedherawayfromlivetheaterand
toward a career in television.
”I learned that I could never be as good as they
were,” Feikin said. ”I could never lose ‘me’ enough to
become somebody else.”
A short time later, Feikin made her first foray into
television — and found that the same quality that
causedhertofailonstagewasthesecrettohersuccess
on the small screen.
“It is such an intimate medium that if you aren’t
yourself, people at home will see right away that you
are a fake,” she said. “It’s the reason some actors don’t
do well on television. They’re theatrical and they’re
not being themselves.
”On TV, you have to be yourself.”
— Mary Carole McCauley
