Meet the Nobel Prize-Winning Santa Claus

Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas! Santa Claus is coming to town! So my name is Charles Nuttall and I'm the Santa in Bryant Park. It's something I've been doing for five or six years. Every year I'm here in the park for about a week before Christmas and adults and children from all over the world come and get a chance to sit in Santa's lap and have their photos taken. Hi! Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas! I grew up in Florida during the Cuban Missile Crisis and the threat of a nuclear holocaust weighed very heavily on my mind. So when I had an opportunity to become a charter member of a group of physicians who were opposed to nuclear war, I jumped at the opportunity. And when they won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985, I got a certificate. I didn't get the gold medal on the trip to Stockholm, but I have the certificate. I never intended to grow up to look like Santa. But since it happened, I've been trying to make the most of it. And I think I've succeeded. I feel pretty happy about how it's turned out. I don't really wear glasses except for reading. These are just like 99-cent magnifying glasses. Some people are very picky about Santa wearing white gloves. So I always come prepared with white gloves. And then the hat, and that's it. Ho, ho, ho! The first people to notice it were my relatives in England. One of my cousins recruited me to be the Father Christmas to hand out toys from Santa's grotto to the little cousins. And so that's how I sort of eased into it. And then gradually I acquired more and more of the accoutrements, like the Santa suit. Fortunately, I didn't have to acquire the beard. I just let it grow longer. I think this is the longest it's ever been because every year I quit trimming it earlier and earlier. And I think I quit around the 4th of July this year. How you been? Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas to you too! Hey! Santa! I always get a positive reaction from people I see. Everybody loves Santa. I always bring smiles even to the most jaded New Yorker. Merry Christmas! Hi! The kids get crazy, but there's two different reactions. Merry Christmas! Ho, ho, ho! Some kids are terrified of Santa, and they hide behind their parents. Oh, you can sit next to him. And others just run up to me with their arms wide open and give me a big hug. Hi! So what does being Santa add to my life? It really adds a lot of fun. Because for one month out of the year, I'm a celebrity. So everywhere I go, people are always delighted to see Santa. I bring big smiles to their faces. Merry Christmas! Santa is, in many people's minds, especially in children, the perfect human being. He's totally selfless. He's always giving of himself. And you can ask for anything you want when you're in Santa's lap. A bulldozer! Oh my gosh! And you may not get it, but you can ask for it. What do you want for Christmas? A Bobby Dream hat. There was one very poignant memory that I have from last year. This man was sort of pacing around Santa's corner, a very sort of timid and reluctant. And finally, during a break in the action, he came up on the platform where Santa's seated. He had a little medal, a religious medal. And he said, I know you're not real, but my mother's dying in the hospital. Could you bless this medal for her? And so I did. So I said a prayer over the medal, and he was so grateful. And that's sort of the real power of Santa and the spirit of Christmas, I think. Say cheese! All right, good job. The best part, obviously, is bringing joy to people. At a time when everybody's stressed and focused on all the pressures of the holidays, it's sort of a chance for them to just sort of smile, laugh, and focus on what's really important.