A roundup of TV people from in front of the camera and behind the scenes who have passed away.
- Hal Fishman: He was the longest-running anchor in TV history. He did the news on L.A.'s KTLA non-stop since 1975. He started in news in 1960. He not only won several journalism and TV awards, he got his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1992. He died of colon cancer at the age of 75.
- Maurice Hill: He was a veteran actor and the last remaining cast member from the 50s show Space Patrol, where he also served as a writer. His other TV credits include Murder, She Wrote, Alice, Remington Steele, Trapper John, The Man From Atlantis, Mannix, Archer, McMillan & Wife, Get Smart, and many others. He was also in the first two Airplane movies, and his last role was in this year's film Happy Anniversary, Punk! He died of heart problems at age 89.
- David Osier: He was a journalist for CNN, joining the network in 1999 after stints at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Georgia Journal. He died of cancer at age 62.
- Ernesto Alonso: He was known as "Mr. Telenovela" because of all of the prime time soap operas he produced over the years. He died in Mexico City at age 90 from pneumonia.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-08-2007 @ 2:31PM
Tom said...
I feel the need to throw in a quick shout out to Hal Fishman as an La-ite. I didn't watch him regularly but i'd tune in occasionally and it was nice knowing he was always out there. There's no doubt he was a part of the LA Landscape and there's a huge gap now that he's gone.
I mean, he hosted the same nightly news cast for 22 years...that's quite an accomplishment especially in the countries second biggest television market.
Plus, on the subject of completely random facts, he actually holds 12 official world aviation records (its true, look it up!)
Anyway, Hal Fishman was a part of LA and if you owned a TV in this town you knew him and its really sad and a bit strange to think that he's now gone.
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8-08-2007 @ 2:50PM
Adam from TV Squad said...
News anchor Kent Brockman on The Simpsons is also based, in part, on Fishman.
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8-08-2007 @ 4:23PM
Bob said...
I never lived in LA, but I received KTLA as a superstation on the east coast. While I only watched KTLA occasionally, Hal always seemed like a genuinely nice guy. A classy newsman in a current generation of idiots, shouters, and haters. He’ll be missed.
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8-08-2007 @ 3:33PM
BigTed said...
Fishman was one of the few local news anchors who really knew what he was talking about, as opposed to those who just read stuff off the teleprompter. His brief daily editorials were as well thought out as anything in the newspaper, but timelier.
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9-01-2007 @ 11:08AM
Bill Long said...
I have been away from Southern California, living in Southeast Asia for the past year and only this week heard of the news of Hal Fishman's passing. I remember hearing him say something in his commentary and then sending him an e-mail about his comment, as to whether I agreed or disagreed. He would always write me back immediately and sometimes he would quote me the next night. He really listened to his viewers. He is missed terribly.
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