It seemed like everyone in Pittsburgh knew Froggy.

Walk into his landmark Downtown bar on any night and you'd likely find him sitting where he always sat, at a big round table next to the door -- the Table of Wisdom.

There, in a rasp that gave him his nickname, Froggy would regale his guests -- buddies, businessmen and celebrities alike -- with opinion and wit.

"He would greet you with open arms and sit there and tell you stories," said Tommy McDonnell, a longtime friend. "You knew it was all B.S. but it didn't matter. The way he told stories just made you laugh."

Steve "Froggy" Morris, whose Market Street saloon made him a Pittsburgh institution, died yesterday after suffering from emphysema and other ailments, his wife, Trish, said. He was 62.

Most nights, Froggy's was packed. Look around and you might spot Mr. Morris with the likes of Mario Lemieux, Howard Cosell or Jack Nicholson. The walls were lined with framed photos of Froggy, instantly recognizable with his thick-rimmed glasses and moustache, with the rich and famous.

But more often, you'd find him surrounded by pals, who said yesterday that it didn't matter who you were -- Froggy made you feel like a regular.

"There was a tremendous cross-section of Pittsburgh," longtime friend Bob Luffy said. "There were hundreds of guys within Western Pennsylvania who didn't go near Downtown Pittsburgh without stopping at Froggy's."

From 1979, when Froggy's opened, until it closed in 2003, Mr. Morris was the common denominator among the lively crowd, welcoming strangers and learning their names.

"I want them all," Mr. Morris told Pittsburgh Press columnist Phil Musick in 1983. "I don't care who they are. I've had the U.S. attorney and the biggest bookmaker in town standing next to each other at that bar."

The saloon thrust Mr. Morris into the spotlight, but he was also known for his charitable work, namely with the Epilepsy Foundation of Western/Central Pennsylvania, which named its children's camp Camp Frog in his honor.

Mr. Morris raised several million dollars for the foundation through Froggy's Golf Classic, which ran for 26 years, executive director Judy Painter said.

Mr. Morris also dabbled as a radio sports commentator, lending his gravelly voice to various boxing shows and sporting events.

"He had that voice, that goofy haircut, the big glasses," said longtime friend Harry Patterson, part owner of the River City Inn. "He was almost the face of Pittsburgh. He was omnipresent."

Mr. Morris, a native of Rochester, N.Y., fell in love with the city when he went to college at the University of Pittsburgh, Mrs. Morris said.

Over the years, he opened several bars and restaurants, including Bimbo's, the Raspberry Rhino in Shadyside and Zelda's in Oakland. He said in a 1985 Post-Gazette Dossier feature that "deadbeats and surly customers" were the two things he could do without.

"He'd always say there was only one rule in the bar," Mr. Luffy said. "You've got to keep one foot on the floor."

Visitation will be at John F. Slater Funeral Home, 4201 Brownsville Road, Brentwood, from 2 to 4 and 6 to 9 p.m. on Sunday and Monday. A Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Tuesday at St. Anne Church, Castle Shannon. Burial will be private.