Longtime TV, radio host Sakowicz dies at 80

Friday, Feb. 13, 2004 | 9:09 a.m.

Sig Sakowicz was so proud of his Polish heritage, he recorded a song naming just about every Polish-American baseball player ever to don a major league uniform.

Well-known in Las Vegas and Chicago for his celebrity interviews, Sakowicz gained his own moment in the national spotlight with the song. In 1980 the Baseball Hall of Fame requested a copy of his "Polish Baseball Power" 45 rpm record to display at Cooperstown.

Sigmund Stanislaus "Sig" Sakowicz, star of the local weekly TV talk show "Sig's Superstar" in the 1970s and '80s, died Saturday in Las Vegas. He was 80.

His family said the cause was complications from breaking both his hip and a leg bone last year.

In recent years Sakowicz's celebrity gossip could be heard on Saturdays on WPNA radio in Chicago and weekdays on KLAV radio in Las Vegas.

"My father was proud of his Polish heritage, so much so, he refused to shorten his name for show business purposes," said the Rev. Greg Sakowicz, a priest at St. Mary of the Woods Catholic Church in Chicago, his father's hometown.

Services will be tonight in Chicago at St. Mary of the Woods. His son will celebrate the Mass.

"My father loved doing what he did -- everyday he loved going to work," Sakowicz said, noting that when his father did his Saturday night radio show on WGN in Chicago starting in 1954, he had the majority of the media market. Few people at the time had television sets.

Sakowicz has been honored with Poland's Knight Cross of the Order of Polonia Restitua. A street in Chicago, where he worked for nine radio stations, is named Sig Sakowicz Drive. For 25 years Sakowicz covered the Academy Awards.

He interviewed people from all walks of life -- from Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner to Poland's Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski.

Among the many other luminaries Sakowicz interviewed on TV and radio were:

During the Vietnam War Sakowicz produced USO tours in 1964, 1968 and 1969. He survived a surprise attack by North Vietnamese troops during one of his shows and an ambush of a helicopter on which he was traveling, his son said.

Sakowicz left WGN in 1971 and moved to Las Vegas the next year, where in addition to hosting his TV show -- first on KLAS Channel 8 and later on KTNV Channel 13 -- he did work for CBS radio. He also penned a gossip and entertainment column for the old North Las Vegas Valley Times newspaper.

Sakowicz returned to Chicago in 1985, where he worked for WVVX radio, spinning records and chatting with celebrities. He did a show, "Sig's Celebrity Cooking," that was syndicated to more than 100 TV stations. The show was twice nominated for daytime Emmy awards.

Sakowicz returned to Las Vegas in 1997.

Born in Chicago, Sakowicz graduated from Weber High School and attended Loyola and DePaul universities. He left school after breaking into radio on station WAIT in the early 1940s.

Sig, who stood taller than 6 feet and weighed more than 275 pounds in his prime, was ineligible for service during World War II because of flat feet.

To support the war effort, he created his own newspaper, the Sakowicz Jug, featuring heartfelt stateside letters to the troops. More than 2,700 servicemen received the publications.

Sakowicz was once divorced and twice widowed. His third wife, Gina Sakowicz, was his longtime producer until her death in Las Vegas in 1998.

Sig Sakowicz also served as international public relations director for the U.S. Celebration of Poland's Millennium in 1969.

Sakowicz's honors include the 1993 Marine Corps Man of The Year award and the Air Force Association Eisenhower Prayer Award.

He also appeared in small roles in nine movies and in several television shows, including "Switch" and "Hill Street Blues."

In addition to his son, Greg, Sakowicz is survived by another son, Adrian Sakowicz; and three daughters, Christine Samaan, Pamela Menaker and Marya Sakowicz Witt, all of Chicago; and eight grandchildren.