GEORGE WALSH
DEAD AT 88
George Walsh,
the announcer for the Gunsmoke radio and television programs, died
Dec.
5, 2005 at the age of 88 of congestive heart failure. Walsh was also
a newsannouncer and the voice of Smokey Bear. His voice also
was used
on the now-closed Disneyland
rides Flight to the Moon and Mission to Mars. He died at
Garfield Medical Center in Monterey Park, CA.
Walsh
became the Gunsmoke announcer in 1952 for the radio version. He
remained
the announcer when the show moved to television in 1955. Walsh
also worked at KNX-AM radio, where he was an interviewer, sports
reporter, newscaster and
announcer from 1952 to 1986.
In June 1947,
Walsh scored what appeared to be a huge scoop while working at
a radio station in Roswell, N.M.. He broke a story about a UFO
landing based on a U.S. air force press officer's claim that a flying
saucer had been captured near the city. The military later said the
UFO was a radar target but the story by then had spread worldwide.
