Playing ‘the Voice’ on Television
After a long and successful career in Sportscasting, Gil did cameos in The Cat from Outer Space, (1978), Sextette (1978), and Inside Moves (1980). Gil Stratton became so well known as the quintessential radio announcer that during the later years of his acting career he has often played himself onscreen or did stints as ‘announcer’ types or an emcee of some kind:
Gil got to play himself as a play-by-play announcer in the Mae West movie, Sextette.
Mae West movie, Sextette (1978)
Sextette is a 1978 American comedy musical released by Crown International Pictures. The film stars Mae West and featured Timothy Dalton (pre James Bond), Dom DeLuise, Tony Curtis, Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, George Hamilton, Alice Cooper and Walter Pidgeon.
The Cat from Outer Space Disney Movie – directed by Norman Tokar.
From the Disney movie directed by Norman Tokar, The Cat From Outer Space. Gil plays a Nasa Scientist!
The Cat from Outer Space (1978)
Police Story (1976) The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (1977), Goldie and the Boxer Go to Hollywood (___), Wonder Woman (1978), Barette (___), Vega$ (1978), Inside Moves (1980), Galactica 1980, Goldie and the Boxer Go to Hollywood (1981) Archie Bunker’s Place, (1981) Trapper John, M.D. (1981), Quincy (___), General Hospital (1982), Cagney & Lacey (1983), Remington Steele (1983), Mama’s Family (1986), Living Single (___), Boy Meets World (1994-1995), Malcolm & Eddie (Race Track announcer 1999), Gil’s last role on the screen was as a café manager in the movie, Dismembered (2003).
In addition to television work, Gil used his long-term experience in radio to become a master at voice-over work providing narration for Chrysler Plymouth and Miller Beer commercials.
He even put his love of radio to the ultimate test by moving to Hawaii and owning and operating radio stations 790 AM KKON AM and KOAS FM in Kealakekua, Hawaii for three years. But gil found, he was not a fan of the desk job and wanted to be behind the microphone again. Stratton sold the station to Bill Evans and came back to work for KNX 1070 radio in 1986 as a weekend sports anchor.
Fun Story
His son, Cary, was a huge fan of Rick Moranis doing an impression of Merv Griffin. The skit was on SCTV and the character was called Merv Griffith. Rick exagerated the ‘real’ Merv Griffin’s tendency to say “oooo” after every guests made a comment. When Gil was cast to play an interviewer on the hit TV soap opera General Hospital, he added a little extra flair to the scene as a wink to his son. He went extra long on the oooo in the dialogue to let his son know he was thinking about him and wanted to make him laugh!