KEALAKEKUA, Hawaii -- Gil Stratton has left his Southern California sportscasting career to own and run a radio station on the west side of the Island of Hawaii.
Stratton, heard for many years on Los Angeles radio and television stations, took over Radio Stations KKON-KOAS-FM in mid-May. Kealakekua is near the West Hawaii resort of Kailua-Kona.
For years Stratton was a television voice of the Los Angeles Rams professional football team. He also was play-by-play announcer for the University of Nevada-Los Vegas football team.
He hosted "Dodger Dugouts" preceding the Los Angeles Dodger telecasts.
In Los Angeles, Stratton worked for KTTV, KNXT (now KCBS) and KNX Radio. He won a cluster of awards for his sports reporting including two Emmys and several Golden Mikes.
Stratton's sportscasting spanned more than a quarter-of-a-century. He covered the whole spectrum of sports including football, hockey, soccer, golf, auto racing and horse racing, including the Kentucky Derby. He covered the 1960 Olympic games in Rome for the CBS network.
Stratton also appeared in several Broadway shows, movies and television series as an actor. He worked in such movies as "Stalag 17," "The Wild One" and "Girl Crazy."
At one time, Stratton spent his summers as a professional baseball umpire, including a stint with the Pacific Coast League.
