KTLA anchor Hal Fishman dead at 75

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By Dennis McLellan, Times Staff Writer

Hal Fishman, the multi-award winning KTLA-TV Channel 5 news anchor who was a Los Angeles TV-news fixture for nearly 50 years, died today. He was 75.

Fishman died at 3 a.m. today, according to a report that aired on the television station this morning. He was hospitalized with a serious infection after collapsing at his home last Wednesday. On Friday, the station announced that he had been diagnosed with colon cancer and that the disease had spread to his liver.

A broadcaster who began his television career in Los Angeles in 1960, Fishman had anchored his station's popular 10 p.m. newscast -- "KTLA Prime News" -- since 1975. He covered major news stories in Southern California, including the Watts riots, the assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, the Sylmar and Northridge earthquakes and the Rodney G. King beating case. A onetime assistant professor of political science, he also served as the newscast's managing editor and commentator.

Fishman anchored his last broadcast on July 30.

"I think Hal is one of the last newsmen in this country that is extremely well-read and is so interested in informing the public about the truth," Rich Goldner, interim KTLA news director, told The Times on Friday. "He has been an anchor in this market for such a long time because he is so believable and has extreme integrity. He had a bond with the viewers and means so much to Southern California."

Former longtime KTLA news director Jeff Wald said Fishman was "certainly the dean of Los Angeles television news."

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-...=la-home-center

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R.I.P.