Freddie G. Miller (February 19, 1929 – November 25, 1992) was a broadcaster and television personality in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Miller worked for Atlanta television station

WXIA-TV WXIA-TV (channel 11) is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate WATL (channel 36). Both stations share studios at One Monroe Place on the north en ...

(then known by call letters including WLWA-TV and WQXI-TV) from the 1950s to the 1970s.http://www.11alive.com/company/history/default.aspx His greatest exposure and notoriety came in the years following, for his role on the announcing team of

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

programs broadcast on another Atlanta station, WTBS. Miller is best remembered by wrestling fans as

Gordon Solie Gordon Solie (born Francis Jonard Labiak, later Jonard Pierre Sjoblom, January 26, 1929July 27, 2000), was an American Florida-based professional wrestling play-by-play announcer working for Georgia Championship Wrestling, Championship Wrestling ...

's co-host on ''

Georgia Championship Wrestling Georgia Championship Wrestling was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Atlanta, Georgia. The promotion was affiliated with what had been the world's top sanctioning body of championship titles for decades before, the National W ...

'', which was later renamed ''World Championship Wrestling''. When Vince McMahon, Jr. bought GCW's time slot, Solie left the promotion to remain with

Ole Anderson Alan Robert Rogowski (born September 22, 1942), better known by the ring name Ole Anderson (), is an American retired professional wrestler, referee, manager, and promoter. Part of the Anderson family, Anderson was a founding member of the influen ...

and his renamed Championship Wrestling from Georgia, but Miller stayed on until McMahon sold the promotion and time slot to

Jim Crockett, Jr. James Allen Crockett Jr. (August 10, 1944 – March 3, 2021) was an American professional wrestling promoter. From 1973 to 1989, he was part owner of Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), a wrestling company affiliated with the National Wrestling Allian ...

Jim Crockett Promotions Jim Crockett Promotions Inc. is a family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, restarted by Jim Crockett's son and Jim Crockett Jr's brother, David Crockett. Founded in 1931, the promot ...

. Miller conducted some interviews, but his primary duties were to announce upcoming

house shows A house show or live event is a professional wrestling event produced by a major promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in on the exposure that they and their wrestlers receive du ...

in the segue to commercial breaks, in much the same fashion as was done in the WWF at the time by

Howard Finkel Howard Finkel (June 7, 1950 – April 16, 2020) was an American professional wrestling ring announcer, best known for his appearances in WWE. He began working for Vincent J. McMahon's World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) in 1975, and was a Mad ...

. McMahon also used Miller on his flagship show ''

WWF Championship Wrestling ''WWF Championship Wrestling'' is a professional wrestling television program produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It aired from 1971 to August 30, 1986 and was the original television show of the WWF. Originally produced u ...

'' for conducting backstage interviews into 1985. Miller is also remembered for his trademark phrase "Don't miss it...BEEE THERE" (emphasis intentional) when advertising upcoming house shows. He was also the subject of

ribbing Ribbing is a Swedish noble family of medieval origin. which may refer to: *Adolph Ribbing (1765–1843), Swedish count and politician who took part in the regicide of Gustav III in 1792 *Beata Rosenhane (1638–1674, spouse of Baron Erik Ribbing), ...

by the boys for his over-enthusiastic pronunciation of " STOOOOOBENVILLE OHIO", one of the stops on the Georgia circuit. During McMahon's ownership of Georgia Championship Wrestling, Miller served double duty as co-host of

Gorilla Monsoon Robert James Marella (June 4, 1937 – October 6, 1999), better known by his ring name of Gorilla Monsoon, was an American professional wrestler, play-by-play commentator, and booker. Monsoon is famous for his run as a villainous super-heavyw ...

and as ring announcer for in-studio matches. On Black Saturday, July 14, 1984, Miller opened the program, and briefly described the new programming which would be offered through the WWF, then introduced McMahon. This moment has been featured on numerous

WWE Home Video WWE Home Video is a video distribution and production company that distributes WWE programming. A division of WWE formed on April 16, 1997 as WWF Home Video, it replaced a similar independent company owned by Evart Enterprises, Coliseum Video, ...

releases, most notably '' The Rise and Fall of WCW''. Miller is also remembered as the host of ''Stars of Tomorrow'' and ''Dance Party'' – both locally produced shows which featured local talent. He also hosted local showings of horror films on WXIA's version of the '' Dialing for Dollars'' franchise. After leaving GCW, he retired as an on-air personality and later did voice-overs for WCW house shows into the 1990s. Miller made a final on-camera appearance at '' Clash of the Champions XX: 20th Anniversary''. He died from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

on November 25, 1992, at the age of 63.

References

External links

* ; Miller is seen on camera briefly
rec.sport.pro-wrestling
Post of December 1, 1992 mentioning Miller's death - includes reference to his death being noted that day by the ''

Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger between ...

'', including a quote {{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Freddie 1929 births 1992 deaths Television personalities from Atlanta Professional wrestling announcers