<p>Guy Sharpe, the weatherman who spent almost 50 years as one of Atlanta's most popular television and radio personalities, died Friday at Crawford Long Hospital.</p><p>He was 75.</p><p>"Sharpe was the standard of the friendly, folksy weatherman popular all over the country during the '60s and '70s," said Dick Williams, publisher of the Crier Newspapers and host of "The Georgia Gang" on WAGA-TV. "He was distinguished, credible, trusted and beloved.</p><p>"He was really known more for that than for his forecasting."</p><p>A longtime heavy smoker, Sharpe died of congestive heart failure, emphysema and lung cancer.</p><p>Sharpe reported on radio and for all three of Atlanta's network affiliates, starting on ABC, moving to CBS and ending his television career on NBC's Channel 11 in 1996.</p><p>Sharpe originally studied to be a minister and his warm personality helped ensure his popularity.</p><p>He began his broadcasting career in 1956, reporting sports and hosting children's shows.</p><p>After his retirement from television, Sharpe, who was living in Conyers, went back to work on a radio station in Covington, talking to callers on a morning show and playing oldies in the evening.</p><p>"I've always been a workaholic," Sharpe told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2000. "I can't stand sitting on my butt _ can't understand the porch-rockers."</p><p>That same year, he was inducted into the Georgia Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame.</p><p>Sharpe moved to Atlanta as a teenager and graduated from Tech High in 1947. He studied for the ministry at Young Harris College and later became one of the first male students to attend the previously all-female LaGrange College.</p><p>His wife, Virginia, died in 1998. Survivors included a daughter, two sons, a stepson, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.</p><p>The funeral is scheduled for Tuesday.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x286559c)</p>
