George Putnam (newsman)

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George Putnam
George Putnam in Perversion for Profit (1965)

George Putnam (born July 14, 1914) is an American television news reporter and talk show host. Putnam received a LL.D. from Bates College in 1985.

Putnam was born in Breckenridge, Minnesota. His radio career began on his 20th birthday in 1934 at WDGY in Minneapolis. Putnam's greatest work was achieved in the Los Angeles, California area, where he has been working since 1951. By the 1950's he had switched to television and hosted the highest rated newscast in the Los Angeles area. He anchored at KTTV 11, KTLA 5, KCOP 13, and KHJ 9 (now KCAL 9).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 has long carried a grudge against Fishman stating on his radio show 'TALKBACK with George Putnam' that he was back stabbed by Fishman. Putnam has 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, although Putnam had been the face of KTLA news in the 1960's and 70's before being replaced by Fishman. Ironically, during KTLA's 60th anniversary special during Thanksgiving weekend in 2007, the KTLA News intro from when George Putnam anchored the news was shown([1]). Fishman passed away on August 7, 2007, three months before the 60th anniversary special aired

In 1965 he narrated a film entitled Perversion for Profit, in which he warned viewers about magazines containing nudity and homosexual material, referring to homosexuals as perverts and misfits. This film was financed by Charles Keating. However by the 1980's he changed his views stating on his radio show TALKBACK with George Putnam that he felt gays were born that way, that many of his friends and coworkers were gay and good people.

For his contribution to the television industry, George Putnam has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6372 Hollywood Blvd. The late Ted Knight stated he used Putnam as his role model for the "Ted Baxter" character in the 1970s television series The Mary Tyler Moore Show. He is also noted for his years of participation in The Rose Parade having ridden in that event from 1951 until 2000 when his horse died,stating that he was too old to train another Parade horse. Putnam lives on his 20 Acre working ranch in Chino, California that houses his 65 Racehorses that have competed at the Kentucky Derby among other venues including all of racetracks in Southern California. He also resides at his home of 57 years located in Beverly Hills, California.

Putnam currently hosts Talk Back, a conservative talk show,that he has hosted daily since leaving the television anchor chair in 1975. It is flagshipped at KCAA 1050 in San Bernardino, California and distributed nationwide on the Cable Radio Network, on CRN1, from 3-5 PM ET. He is believed to be the oldest nationally syndicated radio host in America. In fact, he is one of the very few remaining active radio people (Daniel Schorr, Paul Harvey, and John Zacherle being among the others) who is older than the medium itself. Although Putnam advocates many conservative viewpoints, he has stated that he is a "lifelond Democrat."

Putnam also publishes a weekly column, "One Reporter's Opinion," on the Web site NewsMax.com; his most recent focus has been on the issue of illegal immigration from Mexico.^[1]

In a June 12, 2008 e-mail to Putnam's Newsmax.com readers, it was announced he was in a Los Angeles hospital undergoing medical treatment on his liver and kidneys. Putnam was reported to be in excellent spirits.