Georgia Frontiere dead at 80

LOS ANGELES – Georgia Frontiere, the St. Louis native who became a hometown hero when she brought the NFL’s Rams from Los Angeles in 1995, died Friday. She was 80.

Frontiere had been hospitalized for breast cancer for several months, the Rams said in a statement posted on their Web site.

“Georgia Frontiere was the first lady of sports in her native St. Louis,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement that also praised her philanthropy and concern for retired NFL players.

“Our mom was dedicated to being more than the owner of a football team,” daughter Lucia Rodriguez and son Chip Rosenbloom said in the team’s statement.

“She loved the Rams’ players, coaches, and staff. The warmth and generosity she exuded will never be forgotten.”

The one-time nightclub singer was married seven times, starting at age 15. Her sixth husband, Carroll Rosenbloom, owned the Los Angeles Rams at the time of his drowning death in 1979.

Frontiere was born in St. Louis.