Longtime LA TV anchor and radio host George Putnam dies at age 94

The Los Angeles airwaves have lost a familiar face, and a familiar voice. Longtime TV anchor and syndicated radio host George Putnam died Friday after a long illness. He was 94. KPCC's Special Correspondent Kitty Felde has this look back at his long career.

Kitty Felde: He was the voice of God in local TV news.

George Putnam: Stand by for news. It's next on Channel 5.

Felde: Or Channel 9, or Channel 11, or Channel 13. George Putnam anchored the local evening news for all of them for more than 25 years, starting in 1951. After a stint with Armed Forces radio during World War II and some time in New York, Putnam came west to help create a local news program on KTTV in Los Angeles.

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That's where he spent most of his time as an anchor. Like many of the early TV personalities, Putnam was part newsman and part showman. He read the news with an authority that few other local anchors could muster.

Putnam: The state legislature gives final approval to a massive $1.1 billion tax bill.

Felde: Putnam began his broadcasting career in 1934 at a thousand-watt radio station in Minneapolis. When Channel 5 replaced him with news anchor Hal Fishman in 1975, Putnam went back to radio. His "Talk Back" program aired on Glendale radio station KIEV for more than two decades, and continued airing on the Cable Radio Network. He told producer Ben Shapiro:

Putnam: The beautiful part of radio was that you could go about your work, go about your business, go about what you were doing, and you could still stay with radio, you could hear it, you could be informed, and you could turn it off. (laughs)

Felde: "Talk Back" gave Putnam a chance to air his staunchly conservative views long before Rush Limbaugh sat behind a microphone. Richard Nixon called Putnam "one of the most influential commentators of our times."

Putnam himself claimed he was a life-long Democrat. Actor Ted Knight from "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" reportedly modeled his TV anchorman character Ted Baxter on Putnam and one of his news anchor contemporaries, Jerry Dunphy.

Ted Knight: Here's a special report via satellite from special correspondent Muck Racker.

Felde: When he wasn't on the air, George Putnam was probably on a horse. He loved horses. He raised thoroughbreds at the ranch in Chino where he made his home, and he was a regular fixture in the Rose Parade.

Narrator: Los Angeles broadcasting personality George Putnam. He's been a part of the Rose Parade for 35 years.

Felde: Putnam kept riding in the parade for another decade. The veteran newsman and talk show host had been in poor health of late, suffering from a kidney ailment. He left his long-running "Talk Back" radio program in May, but made a return visit in July to celebrate his 94th birthday. George Putnam died at a hospital in Chino, not far from his horse ranch.

Putnam: My name is George Putnam, I've been broadcasting on radio and television for 73 years. I was born in 1914, I entered radio at WDGY Minneapolis when I was 20 years of age, 1934. I hope I haven't bored the hell out of ya.