George Bednar
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born: | March 16, 1942 Kingston, Pennsylvania |
| Died: | 6 December 2007 (aged 65) Roxbury, Connecticut |
| Career information | |
| College: | Notre Dame |
| Position: | Guard, Tackle |
| NFL draft: | 1964 / round: 8 / pick: 104 |
| AFL draft: | 1964 / round: 3 / pick: 23 |
| Career history | |
| St. Louis Cardinals (1964,1965,1966) | |
George Bednar was an American football player for Notre Dame and the St. Louis Cardinals of the NFL, as well as a business executive. He is most well-known for his tenure as a marketing executive for McKesson Importa Company, where he popularized a cocktail named the Harvey Wallbanger.
Early Life and Education
Bednar graduated from Kingston (PA) Central Catholic High School (now amalgamated with Holy Redeemer high School in Wilkes-Barre) in 1960, achieving success as a football player.
He then attended the University of Notre Dame, where he played offensive guard and defensive tackle from 1960-63 under Coach Joe Kuharich. In 1964, Bednar played in the Blue-Grey All-Star Game and the College All-Star Game.[1] Bednar graduated from the University of Norte Dame in 1964 with a bachelor of arts in economics, and married before beginning his NFL career.[1]
NFL Career
Bednar was drafted by the NFL's St. Louis Cardinals in the eighth round in 1964. He played for the Cardinals through the 1966 season.
Executive career
After leaving the NFL in 1966, Bednar became the marketing/sales director for McKesson Imports Company.[1] Bednar made the Harvey Wallbanger cocktail internationally famous in the early 1970s by suggesting bartenders on America's West Coast promote the cocktail. The drink is composed of vodka, orange juice and Galliano liqueur, then a product of McKesson.[2]
Sales of Galliano quadrupled after Bednar developed the Wallbanger character and tag line - "Harvey Wallbanger is the name. And I can be made!".[1][2]
Building on his success at McKesson, Bednar later became an entrepreneur. He founded International Marketing Group, Inc. in 1976 to provide marketing consulting services to the wine and spirits industry, and creating promotions for Bacardi, Stolichnaya, and Johnny Walker.[2]
In the early '80s, Mr. Bednar founded Promotion Systems, Inc. to provide promotion and marketing consulting services to broader companies, such as J&J, Playtex and Seagrams.[2] In 2004, Bednar founded SunCalc, Ltd., which marketed sunlight measuring devices to home gardeners.
Personal Interests
Bednar was a shooting sports enthusiast in later life. In 1981, Mr. Bednar bought the Sandanona Shooting Preserve in Millbrook, NY, the oldest private shooting preserve in the US. Bednar built a premier shooting school on the premises as well as a Sporting Clays course. A top-tier sporting clays competitor, Bednar also served on the Board of Directors of the Sporting Clays Association of America.
Family life and death
In 1964, Bednar married his wife Francis. They had three children. At the time of his death from a prolonged illness in 2007, he had eight grandchildren.[2]