From the Los Angeles Times

Gil Stratton dies; longtime sportscaster was also an actor

The TV and radio anchor and the voice of the L.A. Rams was known for
his tagline, 'Time to call 'em as I see 'em.'

By Jon Thurber
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

October 13, 2008

Gil Stratton, a longtime presence in Southern California as an anchor
on Channel 2 and KNX-AM 1070, died Saturday of congestive heart
failure at this home in Toluca Lake, according to his wife Dee. He was
86.

A former radio, theater and film actor and Pacific Coast League
umpire, Stratton used the signature line "Time to call 'em as I see
'em." It first became familiar to generations of Southern Californians
during his 16-year tenure on "The Big News," the KNXT (now KCBS-TV
Channel 2) broadcast in the mid-1960s that scored huge ratings as the
first hourlong news program in the region. The groundbreaking newscast
at various times featured Clete Roberts, Jerry Dunphy, Ralph Story,
Bill Stout and Bill Keene.

Stratton covered virtually every kind of sporting event, including the
Summer Olympics from Rome in 1960. For years, he hosted the feature
horse race on Saturdays from Santa Anita, Hollywood Park and Del Mar.
He also worked as an announcer for the L.A. Rams.

MSNBC commentator Keith Olbermann worked with Stratton at KCBS and at
KNX 1070.

"There aren't many renaissance men in any age, but Gil was one of
them," Olbermann said in an e-mail to the Times on Sunday.

"He used to enthrall me. Stories of sports in L.A. in the 1950s.
Working with Brando. Umpiring. Bill Stout stories. Jerry Dunphy
stories. More Jerry Dunphy stories. Kissing Judy Garland every night
for a year on Broadway. He knew everybody and everything and seemed to
delight in them all."

Olbermann also recalled him as a man who didn't take himself too
seriously.

"In '56 or '57, he had it on the highest authority that the Dodgers
would not be moving to L.A. and said so on the air (and he used to
laugh like hell when he said it on the air). In fact he told his
viewers on KNXT that if the Dodgers did move to L.A., he'd jump off
the end of the Santa Monica pier. They did, and so he did."

Stratton was born June 2, 1922, in Brooklyn, N.Y. He attended Poly
Prep in Brooklyn and earned his bachelor's degree from St. Lawrence
University in Canton, N.Y. He started his acting career as a teenager
and, at 19, appeared on Broadway in the George Abbot production "Best
Foot Forward," also working as a radio actor. Two years later, he
appeared in the film "Girl Crazy" with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland,
singing "Embraceable You" in duet with Garland.

Stratton joined the Army Air Forces during World War II; he was
inducted on stage in Chicago after a performance of "Best Foot
Forward" and trained at the gunnery school in Las Vegas. But he spent
much of his service time umpiring ball, a skill he had picked up in
college. Years later, he would remember calling Joe DiMaggio out on a
third strike at a game in Westwood and having the Yankee Clipper
remark to him, "It was a little low, wasn't it, son?"

After the war, he settled in Southern California and became a fixture
on dramatic radio. He played opposite Shirley Temple in the radio
version of "The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer" and, according to his
website, was a regular on classic programs including "The Life of
Riley," and "The Lux Radio Theater."

When Gale Storm's "My Little Margie" went from television to radio,
Stratton played her boyfriend, Freddie, for several years. And he also
played Ed Tatum, the soda jerk, on "Fibber McGee and Molly."

He appeared in a number of films, including "Stalag 17", for which he
also supplied the narration; "The Wild One"; "Monkey Business"; and
"Bundle of Joy."

When he wasn't working behind the mike or the camera, he was often
behind the plate as an umpire for Pacific Coast League games for nine
years.

He joined Channel 2 in the mid-1950s and worked in either radio or
television until the late 1990s. He also lived for a time in Hawaii,
where he owned a radio station.

Olbermann recalled Stratton as "a lovely man and a consummate
professional."

"I have never seen anybody in any field accept a change in the
circumstances in his career better than Gil did. He was the king [in
Southern California] well into the '70s, and then he had to come back
in the '80s and do things like work as a backup to punks like me. And
not only was there never a word of complaint, but he was never
anything less than enthusiastic about his new role, and generous in
how he treated and encouraged me," he said.

During Stratton's years in broadcasting, he won two local Emmys and
six Golden Mikes from the Radio and Television News Assn. of Southern
California, and was inducted into the Sportscasters Hall of Fame.

He is survived by his wife of 47 years, Dee, and his children, Gilda
Stratton, Billy Norvas, Gibby Stratton, Laurie O'Brien and Cary
Stratton. He is also survived by eight grandchildren and three
great-grandchildren.

Services are pending.

Instead of flowers, the family suggests a donation in Stratton's name
be made to the Motion Picture & Television Fund, 23388 Mulholland
Drive, Woodland Hills, CA 91364.

--

"It's not that I'm afraid to die. I just don't want to be there when it happens." - Woody Allen

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