George Michael, who was born George Michael Gimpel on March 24, 1939, grew up in St. Louis. He is pictured here in his high school yearbook in 1957.
File photo-The Washington Post
George Michael poses in the Redskins' locker room in 1986. Michael was criticized during his career for getting too close to the subjects he covered, but he bristled at suggestions he was anything but objective. "How can you say that?" he once said. "There's two sides to you, a reporter and a fan. I am a journalist first. Hey, putting on that Redskins hat was entertainment."
Joel Richardson-The Washington Post
Michael's show, "The George Michael Sports Machine," made liberal use of action highlights from games in addition to interviews and other reports and was syndicated to almost 200 stations at its peak.
Joel Richardson-The Washington Post
Michael, pictured here in the Redskins' locker room in 1986, was one of the most immediately recognizable figures on local television as part of Channel 4's news team.
Joel Richardson-The Washington Post
Michael managed to keep "The George Michael Sports Machine" on the air for years before the cable network ESPN would render it obsolete.
File photo-The Washington Post
Michael was known for his love of showing sports highlights. As sportswriter Norman Chad wrote in The Washington Post in 1985: "He's the only guy in town who can show you five minutes of tape in a four-minute sportscast."
NBC Channel 4
Michael, pictured at a Redskins luncheon in 2003, helped launch the TV careers of frequent show guests Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser. "The George Michael Sports Machine" has been credited with inspiring ESPN's "SportsCenter."
Joel Richardson-The Washington Post
Michael, a former radio personality, joined WRC in 1980 and became the city's best-known sportscaster.
Larry Kobelka
Michael was honored at half time in the owner's box during his final remote broadcast . Pictured, from left to right: former Washington Bullet Wes Unseld, Michael, late Wizards Owner Abe Pollin, former Baltimore Oriole Cal Ripken.
John McDonnell-The Washington Post
Michael introduced the local, late-night "George Michael's Sports Final" in 1980; the highlights show evolved four years later into the syndicated "Sports Machine," which ran until his departure in 2007.
John McDonnell-The Washington Post
Michael rejected a new contract in 2006 after he learned that some of his staff members would be laid off as part of larger moves by parent company NBC Universal. "NBC made me an extremely, extremely beyond-my-wildest-dreams offer to stay and sign a new deal," Michael told the Washington Post at the time, adding: "If I have to lay somebody off . . . I have to take the first bullet. It's that simple."
John McDonnell-The Washington Post
Michael, pictured at his last remote broadcast, anchored the Channel 4 sports desk from 1980 to 2007.
John McDonnell-The Washington Post
Michael covered sports at WRC-TV (Channel 4) for 28 years until resigning in 2008 in response to budget cuts.
John McDonnell-The Washington Post
Gallery Credits:
Text Editor Lindsay Applebaum
