Georgia Frontiere Net Worth & Biography

Georgia Frontiere Net Worth & Biography

Georgia Frontiere was a former socialite and entertainer who inherited the Los Angeles Rams professional football team after the passing of her husband, Carroll Rosenbloom, in 1979 and managed it for several years until her passing on January 18, 2008, at the age of 80. She was the first woman to own a team in the National Football League team, owning the Los Angeles Rams for almost 30 years. Despite that he had taught his son from a previous marriage the business, the late Rosenbloom left 70 percent of the company to Georgia Frontiere who quickly took control of his empire and fired his son from the franchise formerly owned by his late father Carroll Rosenbloom.

Frontiere made sure to displease many fans by moving the club around, firstly to Anaheim in 1980 and later to St. Louis in 1995. She is best remembered for being the first woman in history to own a National Football League team, as well for her numerous monetary support to charities during her life. Few owners in American sports have been as controversial as Frontiere, an eccentric St. Louis native who married on seven occasions, loved music, embraced astrology, wrote poetry, fired her stepson from the Rams’ office, and withstood years of condemnation and criticism that she was incapable of managing a professional team. Yet “Madame Ram,” as popularly called, stood apart for almost three decades as a rare female in a male-dominated industry, and led her team to the Super Bowl three times, winning on one occasion.

According to a list of NFL team valuations put together by Forbes magazine recently, the Rams franchise were worth $908 million, enabling them to claim 22nd position among the league’s 32 teams. Frontiere inherited control of the franchise when her sixth husband, longtime team owner Carroll Rosenbloom, died from drowning while swimming off Florida in April 1979 at the age of 72.

Early Life: Childhood, Education

Georgia Frontiere was born Violet Frances Irwin on November 21, 1927, in St. Louis, Missouri, the United States. Her mother was Lucia Pamela, winner of Miss St. Louis of 1926, leader of America’s first all-girl orchestra (Lucia Pamela & her band of musical pirates), and KMOX radio’s ‘gal about town’. Her father was an insurance salesman and businessman named Reginald Irwin/

Growing up, Georgia always wanted to become a singer. By ten years old, she performed side-by-side with her mother and elder brother in the singing group “Pamela Trio” where they entertained at state fairs and ballrooms.

All that is currently available concerning her educational history is that Frontiere studied at Soldan High School in St. Louis.

Professional Life: Entrepreneurial Career, Philanthropy

Mrs. Frontiere was an American businesswoman and entertainer. She was most known as the chairperson and majority owner of the Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams team of the National Football League. During the nearly three decades that she controlled the Rams (1979–2008), the team made the playoffs for 14 seasons, played in twenty-five postseason games, won thirteen postseason games, reached three Super Bowl finals, and won the championship game once at the end of the 1999 season. She earned the nickname “Madame Ram” because of her commitment to the team.

Upon her sixth husband’s death, Frontiere inherited a 70 percent ownership stake in the NFL franchise Los Angeles Rams. His five children inherited the other 30 percent.

Earlier in her career, Frontiere worked as the secretary of a urologist while acting in Fresno’s Garrick Little Theatre in the early 1950s. After two short marriages that failed, she moved to Miami and started her own TV interview show. She later made appearances as a cast in NBC’s “Today” show. Frontiere also performed as a singer at nightclubs in Miami.

Georgia Frontiere also embraced philanthropy while alive. She erected the St. Louis Rams Foundation and sat on the boards of several charity foundations, including the American Foundation for AIDS Research, Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America, Herbert Hoover Boys and Girls Club, the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, and the local United Way chapter. Furthermore, she also made lots of charitable contributions to the arts and also to several other organizations in St. Louis and other parts of the United States.

Achievements: Awards & Honors

Frontiere led the Rams to their first SuperBowl victory in 1999.

Pepperdine University has awarded her an honorary doctor of philanthropy, in recognition of her immense contributions to charitable causes.

Personal Life: Marriages, Children

This business was married on seven different occasions. She was 15 years old when she married her first husband. However, this marriage with a young military man was soon annulled. She married Francis J. Geiger for her second marriage, but he died in a car accident in San Francisco.

In the 1940s and 1950s, Frontiere married three more times: to Bruce B. Johnson, her colleague in the acting business; to a Sacramento Music Circus stage manager, Wallace Hayes; and to William J. Wyler, a television personality.

She met her sixth husband in 1957. He was Carroll Rosenbloom, then owner of Baltimore Colts. They dated for 3 years and had two children before deciding to tie the knot in 1966. After Rosenbloom died in 1979, Frontiere married her seventh husband, Dominic Frontiere, in 1980. They divorced eight years later but she kept his last name.

Frontiere spent the last nineteen years of her life as the partner of Earle Weatherwax. They were never married.

Demise

Diagnosed with breast cancer in the year 2007, Georgia Frontiere spent the remainder of the year undergoing treatment. However, her condition only got worse and she died on January 18, 2008 in UCLA Medical Center. She was 80 years old.

Georgia Frontiere Net Worth: Salary, Income Sources, Shares

The American businesswoman and entertainer, Georgia Frontiere, is said to have had a wealth of $1.8 billion as of the time she passed away in January 2008. She was best known as the chairwoman and majority owner of the Los Angeles Rams NFL team.

While there isn’t much in the records regarding her annual or monthly earnings, there’s sufficient evidence that her position at the Los Angeles Rams was the main provider of her fortune. She was formerly a socialite and entertainer who also earned from those avenues. However, it was until her sixth husband died and she inherited 70 percent of the man’s investment in the Los Angeles Rams that Frontiere became filthy rich and entered the millionaires’ list, and eventually joined the billionaires club. Considered to be the most prominent female owner (and most controversial person) in the history of the National Football League, Frontiere took the team to success by winning a Super Bowl and making the playoffs 14 times, while also helping improve the financial standards of the franchise.

She had homes and other properties in St. Louis, Malibu, California, and Cornville, Arizona.