David Sheehan, one of the most prominent entertainment journalists and critics in the Los Angeles TV news arena for more than 30 years, has died. He was 82.
Sheehan died Tuesday at UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center from complications of a stroke he suffered last week.
“I worked with him the day before he went into the hospital, and he had a ton of energy,” said Michael Vincent, Sheehan’s producer and vice president of his production company. “He came to work every day with an inspiration that people he worked with and interviewed would have recognized as uniquely his.”
Last year, Sheehan revealed that he had been fighting cancer for several years, including small-cell lung cancer and prostate cancer. He said at the time that his condition had improved after an aggressive form of treatment.
Sheehan became the first entertainment interviewer and reviewer on local television after joining KCBS-TV Channel 2 in 1970, first as a daily broadcaster and then as entertainment anchor. He jumped to KNBC Channel 4 in 1984, covering entertainment for the next 10 years.
While at that station, he also produced and hosted a series of network entertainment specials including “Macho Men at the Movies” and “Hollywood’s Leading Ladies.” He returned to KCBS in 1994, where he worked until his departure in 2004. He also hosted several specials previewing the Academy Awards titled “And The Winners Are….”
(Excerpt) Read more in: Los Angeles Times