**Warning - this article contains minor spoilers for The Bear Season 5.**
UK fans of The Bear tuning into the fifth series may well find themselves seeking a little background on the show's exciting new guest star. Jeremy Allen White, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Ayo Edebiri lead the cast of the hit FX and Disney+ series, centred around a chaotic Chicago restaurant where sky-high ambitions are matched by an equally turbulent kitchen. Season 5 picks up immediately after Carmen 'Carmy' Berzatto (played by White) drops a bombshell on Sydney (Edebiri), Richie (Moss-Bachrach) and his sister Natalie, known as 'Sugar' (Abby Elliott), declaring he is walking away from the restaurant trade for good.
With their finances in dire straits, a fierce storm raging outside and a packed dining room to cater for, the Bear team face one final night to demonstrate they have what it takes to clinch that all-important Michelin star. Adding to the pressure, a local celebrity has secured a table on their most crucial night yet — meteorologist Tom Skilling. But just who is he?
Tom Skilling, 74, is a former weather presenter who served as chief meteorologist at WGN-TV Chicago from 1978 until his retirement in 2024.
Though born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Skilling grew up in Westfield, New Jersey, before his family relocated to Aurora, Illinois — a suburb just outside Chicago — where he completed high school. At just 14 years old, he started working for WKKD and WKKD-FM, where he observed that their weather forecasts were unreliable as they relied on predictions for Chicago instead of Aurora.
He struck an agreement with the station to deliver his own forecasts which, if proven correct, would earn him his own weather programme.
They were spot on, and he started presenting Aurora weather updates three times weekly. He subsequently secured a position at Aurora's WLXT-TV at the age of just 18.
Skilling went on to work at WKOW-TV and WTSO radio while studying at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, before securing his first significant television role in 1975 at WITI-TV in Milwaukee, where his forecasts were accompanied by a sock puppet named Albert the Alley Cat.
Following his return to Chicago, he became WGN-TV's chief meteorologist in 1978, a position he held until his retirement in 2024. He is believed to have become the highest-paid weather broadcaster in the United States and also maintained a popular column in the Chicago Tribute, Ask Tom, until 2022.
Skilling has never married and remarkably little is known about his private life. However, he is the brother of disgraced Enron chief executive Jeffrey Skilling.
The energy giant, Enron Corporation, filed for bankruptcy in 2001 following the exposure of fraudulent practices. This resulted in the collapse of the company's accounting firm, Arthur Andersen, which was one of the five largest firms globally, and is regarded as one of the biggest bankruptcy reorganisations in American history.
Jeffrey Skilling served as Chief Executive at the time and faced 35 criminal charges connected to the scandal, encompassing conspiracy, insider trading and securities fraud.
He was handed a $45 million (£34 million) fine and a 24-year custodial sentence. Following numerous appeals, he ultimately served 12 years behind bars before being released in 2019.
The Bear Season 5 is available to stream on Disney+.
