[Deathwatch] Wally George, 'combat TV' host, 71

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

Angry TV host, De Mornay father dead
Wally George was a pioneer in 'combat TV'
Tuesday, October 7, 2003 Posted: 12:10 PM EDT (1610 GMT)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/TV/10/07/deaths.ap/index.html

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, California (AP) -- Conservative talk show host Wally
George, who sparred with liberal guests for two decades on "Hot Seat,"
died Sunday of pneumonia. He was 71. 

George, the father of actress Rebecca De Mornay, had been at the
hospital for three months due to complications from cancer. 

George's combative television show, broadcast on KDOC-TV in Anaheim,
rose to popularity in the 1980s. He called his approach "combat TV" and
was known for interrupting guests by shouting insults at them. 

George told the Los Angeles Times in 1984 that fans saw him as a
"down-to-earth guy who's speaking not so much from a highly intelligent
brain but who's speaking from his heart and gut." 

Born George Walter Pearch in Oakland to a former vaudeville actress and
the owner of a shipping company, George moved to Hollywood with his
mother and at age 14 became a disc jockey with KIEV-AM in Glendale. 

He hosted "The Wally George Show" on Inglewood radio and was a producer
and co-host of "The Sam Yorty Show" before "Hot Seat" premiered in
1983. 

KDOC has been airing reruns of the show since George underwent surgery
in June to remove a bone near his spine that had disintegrated because
of cancer. He said at the time the problem was discovered by doctors
after a fall in his Garden Grove home.