Member of first Olympic gold medal basketball team dies
Sam Balter, former broadcaster, passes away at age 88
Posted: Sunday August 09, 1998 08:46 PM
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Sam Balter, a member of the first Olympic
gold medal basketball team who went on to a broadcasting career,
has died after a long illness, a family member said. He was 88.
Balter, who died Saturday at a Los Angeles hospital, played for
the United States in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. A 5-foot-10
guard, Balter averaged 8.5 points in the U.S. team's four games,
the fourth-highest average on the team that started the United
States' gold medal run that lasted until 1972.
He was the sports director of KLAC radio in Los Angeles the
1940s, 1950s and early 1960s and was a television play-by-play
announcer for the Hollywood Stars and Los Angeles Angels of the old
Pacific Coast League.
A graduate of UCLA, Balter was a charter member of the Southern
California Sports Broadcasters Association, and was elected to the
SCSBA Hall of Fame.
Balter is survived by his wife, Mildred, to whom he was married
for 67 years; a daughter, Barbara Kahn; and three granddaughters.
Funeral services will be private.
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