Early life and career A native of Los Angeles, Nahan moved at age 2 with his mother to
Canada, where he grew up playing
ice hockey. A star
goalie at
McGill University in Montreal, he signed a contract with the
Toronto Maple Leafs of the
National Hockey League in 1946. He was assigned to the minor-league
Los Angeles Monarchs, who through the early 1950s played at the
Pan Pacific Auditorium. Nahan acted on a children's television program portraying "Skipper Stu" in
Sacramento in the 1950s. He worked for
KCRA in Sacramento as a sportscaster. Nahan later moved to
Haddonfield, New Jersey (near
Philadelphia) where he hosted his own children's show as Captain Philadelphia, dressed in an astronaut outfit, on the since defunct
WKBS-TV. During this stint, he also provided the play-by-play commentary for the NHL's
Philadelphia Flyers at
WTAF alongside
Gene Hart, and for CBS with
Jim Gordon, and teamed with
Tom Brookshier to call
Philadelphia Eagles NFL games for
CBS.
Film career In the mid-to-late 1970s, Nahan began working in the movie industry, always playing a sports commentator and usually appearing as himself. Aside from the
Rocky series, Nahan made a brief appearance in
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), in which he interviews the character Jeff Spicoli (
Sean Penn) in a dream sequence; this scene was parodied in "
Chuck Versus Tom Sawyer" with a fictional "Stu Brewster" (portrayed by Bill Lewis). Nahan also had a bit part in the 1971 TV movie, ''
Brian's Song, as the speaker who introduced Gale Sayers at the awards banquet where Sayers was named Rookie of the Year. He played a small but vital role in the Rocky'' films as the play-by-play commentator who called all of the fictional boxer's title bouts. Nahan's voice was used for the play-by-play in the computer boxing game that helped spark the title character's comeback in the sixth film of the series,
Rocky Balboa. Additionally, he had a small role as an announcer in
The A-Team episode, "Quarterback Sneak". Mr. Nahan also had small roles as the news anchor in the 1979 movie
Meteor and in the
CHiPs episode "Something Special" S6E6 as himself.
Los Angeles television market Nahan was a sports anchor in the Los Angeles television market for roughly 30 years, with
KABC-TV (1968–1977),
KNBC (1977–1986) and
KTLA (1988–1999). He also spent time with radio stations
KABC,
KXTA, and
KFWB. He was involved with the
Los Angeles Dodgers' pregame show, from which he retired after the 2004 season.
Death Nahan battled
lymphoma after he was diagnosed in January 2006. He died at his home in
Studio City, California, aged 81. His star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is at 6549 Hollywood Boulevard. ==Filmography==