Barry Phlegar 1938-2006

During the turbulent early years of WRAL-TV, Barry Phlegar was a constant. Phlegar, 67, lost his long battle with cancer this past Saturday, February 4, 2006 at Hospice House in Forest City, NC.

From 1959-1979, Phlegar was the producer / director behind successful programs such as The Uncle Paul Show and Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling for WRAL-TV 5.

"I will always remember Barry as a quiet, unassuming man who got the job done," reminisced Vice-President of Community Relations, Paul Pope. "He was the director for the news and for the Sister Gary Show, now know as Spiritual Awakening."

Barry Phlegar on the set of the Bette Elliot show

"He was a steady, unexcitable guy. You couldn't find a better person," said Earl Ashe, a WRAL-TV 5 director who worked with Phlegar from the station's inception until he (Ashe) left in 1977. "A bomb could go off beside him and he'd just turn and look at it."

Ashe continued, "It fell to us to do everything (during their years together).

Sometimes you're doing very complex stuff live and if you made a mistake, it was gone (on the air). He was very reliable in that regard - an extraordinarily reliable man."

Phlegar is survived by his wife, Betty, and son Charles Phlegar of Denver, Colorado.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the World Wildlife Fund, PO Box 97180, Washington, DC 20090-7180.