Pioneer Tom Gallery Dies at 94

Tom Gallery, pioneer television sports promoter and longtime boxing matchmaker at Hollywood Legion Stadium, died Wednesday of natural causes in Encino. He was 94.

Gallery came to Hollywood from Chicago as an actor in the silent-film era, but quit filmmaking to become a matchmaker. Gallery helped make Legion Stadium one of the most popular fight arenas in the country before World War II with such box-office attractions as Henry Armstrong, Ceferino Garcia, Baby Arizmendi, Speedy Dado, Chalky Wright and Bert Colima.

He also promoted a world heavyweight championship fight between Joe Louis and challenger Jack Roper at Wrigley Field on April 17, 1939. One of his more unusual promotions was putting on a world ski-jumping championship at the Coliseum where snow was trucked in.

When the Rams moved to Los Angeles from Cleveland in 1946, Gallery was instrumental in putting together the Ram-Redskin charity game, which annually opened the pro football exhibition season for many years.

Later, Gallery became director of sports for DuMont Televison and NBC Television, where he pioneered professional football as a TV attraction. For a time he also worked for the late Dan Topping as business manager of the New York Yankees.

Survivors include his wife, Lillian Fette Gallery, daughters Ann Reynolds, Gretchen Davis and Michele Gallery, son Donald and three grandsons.