JUVENILE - ACTOR/SPORTSCASTER GIL STRATTON DEAD AT 86

Gil Stratton, who made his debut as a juvenile actor costarring with Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney in the Busby Berkeley/Norman Taurog musical Girl Crazy in 1943, but is best remembered in Los Angeles as the sportscaster for the CBS-owned KNXT (now KCBS-TV) for more than two decades, died Saturday of congestive heart failure in Toluca Lake, CA at age 86. His signature line, "Hi folks, it's time to call 'em as I see 'em," was familiar to a generation of Angelenos, who, in the '60s and '70s, tuned in to The Big Show , which is believed to be the nation's first hourlong newscast.

13/10/2008