Wally George is dead -- Press Clips

[lawrocket 3]

This is for you old school So Cal peeps. May of you outside of SoCal may know him, too. He was a legend! And, he was the fater of Rebecca DeMornay.

I'm gonna miss the old coot...


http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/ocr/article.do?id=60573§ion=BREAKING_NEWS&subsection=BREAKING_NEWS&year=2003&month=10&day=7

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Wally George, 71, the feisty, conservative talk-show host whose combative "Hot Seat" program ran on KDOC-TV/56 for more than 20 years, died Sunday at Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center of complications from cancer.

George, of Garden Grove, who had suffered from serious health problems for years, was known for his yellowish head of helmet hair ("The Wally Wig," he called it) and a confrontational TV persona that may well have been the prototype for Morton Downey Jr., Jerry Springer and others.

George also was the father of actress Rebecca deMornay, although the two had been long estranged.

"Wally gave real meaning to the term ‘show-business trouper,’ " said former Rep. and longtime friend Robert K. Dornan. "He gave just about everything a shot – acting, announcer. He finally found his niche in talk TV.

"I’ll say this for Wally George – he was consistent in all of his beliefs, all of his stands. He was steady as she goes over the years. He saw himself as a patriot, and all that Americana, it was all sincere. He believed every bit of it."

Despite George’s sometimes acerbic onscreen persona, George "had a sweet disposition," Dornan said. "He was always the gentleman, always a kind word for everyone."

"I always wanted to be a celebrity," George told The Orange County Register’s Jane Glenn Haas in a 1999 interview. And he was, at least to the legions of college kids and others who packed the KDOC studio in Anaheim to shout "Wally, Wally!" at George during the show’s heyday.

George’s physical maladies were legion, including prostate cancer, blood clots on the brain sustained when he fell down some stairs, and ribs broken in an auto accident. He believed he had licked colon cancer, though, despite a decision to cease chemotherapy treatments because they made him too ill. "I’m relying on God," he said.

"I’m OK, Wally is alive," George said in a March 2002 interview with the Register after resuming the taping of intros for old "Hot Seat" segments. He boasted that his colon surgery had been performed by the same doctor who treated former President Reagan.

"Just getting back in front of the camera, all of a sudden it was like someone had given me a shot of adrenaline, a surge of energy.

"I feel," George said, "like I can go on forever. But, when my time comes, I hope it’s in the middle of one of my shows."

In June, George underwent surgery to remove a tumor and deteriorated bone from his spine, and he had been hospitalized for several months prior to his death.

A severe stutterer as a child, George literally talked his way into a show-business career at age 14, proving to the management of radio station KIEV in Glendale that he could do a radio gig without the stutter.

He later distributed tickets for the "Ozzie and Harriet" radio show and also appeared on the TV show as a grocery boy. His introduction to TV on his own was in 1973, when he co-hosted former Los Angeles Mayor Sam Yorty’s talk show on KCOP/13 from 1973 to 1979.

Once he began "Hot Seat," you never knew what would happen on a Saturday night – especially with a live audience that was clearly on George’s side, chanting "Wally! Wally!" in support of the host and "Jerk! Jerk! Jerk!" to rile up the guests. Disk jockey Rick Dees was a particularly good-natured foil, but George preferred to take on ultraliberals, drug advocates, pornographers and atheists. (The pornographers, naturally, would occasionally be accompanied by scantily clad women, much to George’s "horror.")

The most celebrated "Hot Seat" incident occurred one night when George was sparring with pacifist Blase Bonpane about the bombing of Grenada. When Bonpane started yelling at George’s audience, the host grabbed him by the shoulder and told him to leave. The guest promptly turned over George’s desk, knocking down various props, and he was forcibly removed by security guards. The incident garnered George a sizable amount of network publicity.

"Wally first and foremost was an entertainer," said attorney and frequent foil Gloria Allred. "He did manage to successfully combine the political and entertainment mediums, which not everyone knows how to do. He was very, very well aware of his audience, and his audience loved him.

"He was always a provocateur who made people think."

In 1999, George penned an autobiography, "The Father of Combat TV," and, in 2000, was the subject of an E! Network bio. The Internet Movie Database credits him with six film appearances, including "Nightmare On Elm Street 5" (1989) and "Repossessed" (1990).

Information on services was not available.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[McDuck 0]

Holy crap! Wally George. Man, I remember that guy, and how he wasn't afraid to get in his guests' faces. A true showman, that's for certain. He knew how to play to the baser instincts of his viewing audience.

Kevin - Sonic Beef #5 - OrFun #28
"I never take myself too seriously, 'cuz everybody know fat birds don't fly." - FLC
Online communities: proof that people never mature much past high school.

[quade 4]

Rush had NOTHING on Wally George. Rush was a left-wing pinko commie compared to Wally.

Wally used to broadcast out of the KDOC studio (really a piece of crap industrial building about a block away from Disneyland) years ago.

The guys in my office would tape his show and we'd watch it during our lunch hour and hoot and holler. Every once in awhile we'd go pay the show a visit. The studio audience was really the dreggs of society and very close to rioting every night there was a taping. A bit like professional wrestling without the class.

Every once in awhile we'd also see Wally at Angelo's, a local roller skating car hop burger stand. He -really- didn't fit in there, but everyone knew him from the TV show and left him alone.

As goofy as he was -- he was a classic.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[lawrocket 3]

I used to watch his show a lot. He had that table in front, with that big picture of the Space Shuttle taking off.

His bumper theme was to the tune of "Louie, Louie" and it went, "Wally Wally, Whoa Whoa, we gotta go, to see your show."

The guy was a real nut. My favorite was when he would pu ton the porno kingpins. They'd exchange insults about who's not getting it and such. The crowd would get in a frenzy, Wally would get livid, and the guests would get pissed, too.

I remember one time he had on the Reverend Bud Greene, who openly advocated marijuana. What a riot! Literally.

My wife is hotter than your wife.