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Georgia Frontiere, Owner of One-time LA Rams, Dies at 80
Fans of the LA Rams weren't known to be fans of team owner Georgia Frontiere, who moved the NFL football franchise to her hometown of St Louis in 1995. The woman who took over ownership of the team in 1979 from her sixth husband, Carroll Rosenbloom, when he died by drowning, died yesterday at the age of 80 after a long-fought battle against breast cancer. Frontiere had been hospitalized for months prior to her death.
The former nightclub singer and chorus line dancer was introduced to husband number six by JFK's dad Joseph Kennedy in 1957, and they married in 1966. Rosenbloom became the owner of the Rams in 1972. When Rosenbloom drowned mysteriously in 1979, eyebrows were raised. According to Wikipedia: "Although no evidence of foul play was uncovered, it is rumored that Rosenbloom, a high stakes gambler, was killed over failure to repay debts."
Her first move, which angered many Angelenos, was to move the team to Anaheim the following year. The San Francisco Chronicle explains how Frontiere became an unlikely team owner: "Rosenbloom had groomed his son from a previous marriage, Steve, as his successor, but he left 70 percent of the Rams' ownership to his wife, evidently to minimize estate taxes. She quickly asserted control, firing Steve Rosenbloom and replacing him as the team's top executive with Don Klosterman, the general manager."
But The LA Times explains that the unique woman more than just made a name for herself, she also brought much success to the team: "Yet "Madame Ram," as some called her, stood apart for nearly three decades as a rare female in the testosterone-charged National Football League. Her teams played in the Super Bowl three times, winning once, after the 1999 season."
Frontiere died here in Los Angeles, at the UCLA Medical Center.
Photo from St Louis Sports
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