Gil Stratton, 86, a Southern California sportscasting fixture
The voice of the Rams and TV and radio anchor who said, 'I call 'em as I see 'em,' dies at home in Toluca Lake.
Gil Stratton, a longtime presence in Southern California sportscasting as the voice of the Rams, as the host of horse racing from Santa Anita and as an anchor on Channel 2 news and KNX 1070 Newsradio, died Saturday of congestive heart failure at this home in Toluca Lake, according to his wife Dee. He was 86.
A former Pacific Coast League umpire, Stratton's signature line, "I call 'em as I see 'em," became familiar to generations of Southern Californians during his 17-year tenure on "The Big News," the trailblazing KNXT, now KCBS, broadcast in the mid-1960s that also featured Clete Roberts, Jerry Dunphy, Ralph Story and Bill Keene.
In his sportscasting career, he covered the Summer Olympics from Rome in the 1960s, hosted the feature horse race on Saturdays from Santa Anita, Hollywood Park and Del Mar, and worked as an announcer for the Rams, when they played in the Memorial Colisieum.
Stratton obituary: The obituary of sportscaster Gil Stratton in Monday's California section misspelled the last name of theater producer and director George Abbott as Abbot.
Stratton joined the Army Air Forces during World War II, being inducted on stage in Chicago after a performance of "Best Foot Forward," and was trained at the gunnery school in Las Vegas. But he spent much of his time umpiring service ball, a skill he had picked up while going to 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 picked up his acting career, appearing in films including "Stalag 17" with William Holden, "The Wild One," which starred Marlon Brando, and "Monkey Business," with Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers and Charles Coburn.
He also did a wide variety of classic radio broadcasts, and when he wasn't working behind the mike or the camera, he made a living, often behind the plate, as an umpire for Pacific Coast League games for nine years in the 1950s.
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.
