Biography
Putnam was born in Breckenridge, Minnesota. His radio career began on his 20th birthday at WDGY in Minneapolis, then continued in Washington, DC at WJSV and later, in New York. Putnam began working in the Los Angeles area in 1951 and switched to television, eventually hosting the highest rated newscast in Los Angeles. He anchored at all four of Los Angeles' major independent stations -- KTTV, KTLA, KCOP, and KHJ-TV (now KCAL-TV) -- at one time or another. In addition to his salary, he was provided a Rolls Royce automobile while at KTTV and KTLA. He was replaced by news legend Hal Fishman in 1975.
Putnam long carried a grudge against Fishman, stating on his radio show 'Talk Back' that he was back-stabbed by Fishman. Putnam made this claim for decades. It is noteworthy that when Fishman produced KTLA's 50th-anniversary history in television in 1997, the footage of Putnam was not used, though Putnam had been the face of KTLA news in the 1960s and 1970s before the arrival of Fishman. During KTLA's 60th-anniversary special during Thanksgiving weekend in 2007, the KTLA News intro from when George Putnam anchored the news was shown; Fishman died on August 7, 2007, three months before the 60th anniversary special aired.
In 1965, Putnam narrated a film entitled Perversion for Profit, in which he warned viewers about magazines containing nudity and homosexual material, saying homosexuals were perverts and misfits. The film was financed by Charles Keating.
For his contribution to the television industry, George Putnam was awarded three emmy awards as well as a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6372 Hollywood Blvd. The late Ted Knight stated that Putnam served in part as a model for the Ted Baxter character in the 1970s television series The Mary Tyler Moore Show on CBS. Putnam was also noted for his years of participation in the Rose Parade, having ridden in that event from 1951 until 2000, when his horse died. At the time, Putnam said that he was too advanced in age to train another Parade horse. Putnam lived and died at his 20-acre (81,000 m2) working ranch in Chino. The ranch houses his sixty-five racehorses, which have competed at the Kentucky Derby and all of the racetracks in Southern California. He also spent time at his home of fifty-seven years in Beverly Hills.
Putnam was the well-known host of 'Talk Back', a conservative radio show he hosted daily since leaving the television anchor chair in 1975. It was based at KIEV 870 in Glendale,California Now(KRLA) until 2001 and moved to KCAA 1050 in San Bernardino,in 2002 and was distributed nationwide on the Cable Radio Network on CRN1. Although Putnam advocated many conservative viewpoints, he stated many times his status as a "lifelong Democrat" since his youthful admiration of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Putnam also published a weekly column, "One Reporter's Opinion," on the Web site NewsMax.com. His most recent focus was illegal immigration from Mexico. Putnam received an honorary LL.D. from Bates College in 1985.
Putnam had a cameo role as a TV news reporter or anchor in at least three films: the 1951 Drama Fourteen Hours; the 1958 film about convicted murderer Barbara Graham, I Want to Live!; and the 1996 disaster spectacular, Independence Day.
In a June 12, 2008, e-mail to Putnam's Newsmax.com readers, it was announced that Putnam was in a Los Angeles hospital undergoing medical treatment on his liver and kidneys. In mid-July he took part in a special on-air 94th "birthday" show, hosted by Chuck Wilder.
On September 12, 2008 Putnam died at Chino Valley Medical Center in Chino, California. His death was announced to Putnam's Newsmax.com readers. Upon Putnam's passing, the Los Angeles Times recalled the words of former President Richard M. Nixon in a 1984 roast of Putnam given by KTTV to celebrate Putnam's 50th anniversary in broadcasting: "Some people didn't like what he said; some people liked what he said. But everybody listened to George Putnam. That is why he has been one of the most influential commentators of our times."
Read more about this topic: George Putnam (newsman)
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