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Phyllis George, who obtained one level of fame as Miss The united states 1971 and another one 4 many years afterwards, when CBS hired her to join the otherwise all-male Solid of “The NFL Currently,” died on Thursday in Lexington, Ky. She was 70.

Her loved ones reported the trigger was polycythemia vera, a exceptional blood most cancers that had been diagnosed 35 several years back.

Hired for a co-host of CBS Sports’s weekly pregame soccer exhibit — which showcased the higher-profile hosts Brent Musburger and Irv Cross along with the gambling commentator Jimmy Snyder, or Jimmy the Greek, as he was acknowledged — Ms. George right away grew to become by far the most prominent lady in sportscasting.

But along with her magnificence-queen qualifications and her modest television résumé, she was criticized for missing the traditional sportscaster qualifications. She was not a former sportswriter, like Mr. Musburger, and he or she was naturally not a retired soccer player, like Mr. Cross.

She responded to her critics by indicating that she knew adequate about sporting activities, Specifically football, to obtain by.

“I’m from Texas,” she told Folks magazine in 1976, “and down there you Stick to the Texas Longhorns as well as the Dallas Cowboys or you don’t belong.”

She was unquestionably a pioneer. To lots of younger Gals who hoped to own Occupations in sportscasting, observing her sharing the studio desk with Mr. Musburger, Mr. Cross and Mr. Snyder and speaking about the working day’s games was inspiring.

“Often you have to see it for being it; It's important to know one thing is a vocation solution in an effort to aspire to it,” Hannah Storm, an anchor at ESPN’s “SportsCenter,” wrote in an electronic mail. “Meaning a person needs to be initial. Which was Phyllis George — a true trailblazer.”

Ms. George was greatest noted for her interviews with athletes. A noteworthy second occurred in 1975, when Roger Staubach, the Dallas Cowboys’ stoic quarterback, unexpectedly confessed to her: “I like intercourse approximately Joe Namath. I identical to it with one particular individual, my wife.”

Late that period, her very first with “The NFL Today,” she recalled remaining concerned that she had been preferred by CBS to Engage in a token part.

“I advised Brent I had been no qualified,” she told The Orlando Sentinel. “But every 7 days, That which you’ve received to comprehend is I get An increasing number of to try and do due to the fact my assurance is expanding and their assurance in me is increasing.”

Even now, it was demanding getting a woman in a male bastion several years ahead of growing figures of women received vast regard at various networks.

“We talked not long ago concerning the ‘me way too’ motion,” her daughter, Pamela Brown, senior White Property correspondent for CNN, stated within an job interview. “She said, ‘Pam, I went by way of all of it’ — all of the sexist reviews And just how through business breaks she’d have an plan and one of several men would steal it just as if it were his.”

She remained with “The NFL These days” for 3 seasons before currently being changed in the course of Browse around this site the 1978 year by Jayne Kennedy, Yet another former beauty queen. Another year, Ms. George married John Y. Brown Jr., who experienced created the Kentucky Fried Hen chain and was elected governor of Kentucky in 1979. She was the primary Girl with the state for four decades.

Phyllis Ann George was born on June 25, 1949, in Denton, Texas. Her father, Robert, owned an oil distributorship. Her mom, Diantha Louise (Cogdell) George, was a homemaker. Ms. George attended the College of North Texas but didn't graduate.

She took piano lessons for much more than ten years, aspiring to the vocation being a classical pianist. That did not come about, but she performed piano within the local and state pageants that culminated in her remaining crowned Miss out on America. For that talent percentage of the Level of competition, she performed “Raindrops Maintain Slipping on My Head.”

When Ms. George was announced as the pageant winner and started her runway wander, she nodded to your judges and her crown fell from her head.

“I thought, ‘It is possible to’t leave it there,’ so I bent down and carried it,” she instructed The Press of Atlantic City in 2013. “I'd flowers and also a scepter in a single hand plus a crown in another.”

Her 1st key work in television was being a co-host of “The brand new Candid Digital camera” in 1974, teaming up with the first “Candid Camera” creator, Allen Funt. CBS Sports hired her quickly immediately after and started to give her assignments, by far the most well known staying “The NFL Currently.”

Bob Wussler, the president of CBS Sporting activities, reported he needed to hire a girl who would offer a human interest angle that male commentators didn't.

“She’s a heat, appealing, extremely good unique,” Mr. Wussler explained to The Sentinel. “She delivers the typical 25-12 months-outdated-Woman-enthusiast type of aspect, which I feel is important.”

Following staying changed by Ms. Kennedy for two seasons, Ms. George returned to “The NFL Today” in 1980 and stayed right until 1984. Early the next year, she replaced Diane Sawyer being an anchor of “The CBS Morning Information” with Invoice Kurtis. She was once again criticized, this time for not aquiring a journalism track record. Immediately after eight months, she resigned.

She went on to host a chat clearly show over the Nashville Network, publish publications and start two enterprises: Hen by George, a maker of marinated clean rooster-breast entrees, which she marketed to Hormel, plus a line of cosmetics and pores and skin-care products, Phyllis George Magnificence, promoted via HSN.

Together with her daughter, she's survived by her son, Lincoln Tyler George Brown, and two grandchildren. Her marriages to Mr. Brown and Robert Evans, the Hollywood producer, ended in divorce. (Mr. Evans died in October.)

Interviewed from the Kansas Town Star in 1995, Ms. George recalled that despite the challenges she confronted at CBS Sporting activities, she would have finished it all over again. But, she mentioned, she must not have accomplished “The CBS Early morning News.”

“They didn’t Enjoy to my strengths,” she stated. “They didn’t Engage in to anything I had. They only still left me sitting down there. To indicate up for 8 months, as I did, was the toughest issue I’ve ever performed.”