This Channel 6 Legend Was Part of Your Childhood, But He Wasn’t From Philadelphia

Do you remember Joe Carcione, "The Green Grocer," from Channel 6 in Philly?

If you grew up in or around Philadelphia in the 70s and 80s and watched Action News, you probably remember his produce updates, which aired several times each day.

And while he is a local TV legend, what you may not know is that while he sounded like he was from Philly, he looked like he was from Philly, and his delivery made him seem like someone Channel 6 would hire, truth be told, he was nowhere near the City of Brotherly Love.

He was so good at what he did, just about everyone thought he was standing somewhere in the Italian Market in South Philly.

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In reality, he was 3,000 miles away on the other side of the country.

What you saw on Channel 6 every day was a syndicated feature that aired on TV stations all across the country.

Decades before AI, computer-generated images, and green screens that could magically transport anyone anywhere, the good old-fashioned magic of television had people in Philly thinking that they might just bump into Carcione in the produce aisle the next time they ran into Acme.

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How Carcione Became a TV Sensation

Carcione owned and operated a produce business in South San Francisco. While doing radio commercials for his business in the 60s, he was discovered by a local DJ. From there, he started hosting short vignettes for stations around the country that discussed fruits and vegetables, he wrote a newspaper column, and even penned two books.

He became a household name not only on Channel 6 but across the country with his "Green Grocer" television news features that aired from coast to coast in America and Canada.

Sadly, Mr. Carcione passed away from intestinal cancer at a hospital in California on August 2nd, 1988.