Sam Rubin, a veteran journalist who anchored KTLA’s entertainment coverage for more than 30 years, died Friday in Los Angeles. He was 64.
Anchor Frank Buckley confirmed the reporter’s death during an emotional announcement on Friday afternoon. Fighting back tears as he announced the news on the air, Buckley called his colleague’s death “shocking” and “hard to comprehend in the moment.”
“Quite simply, Sam was KTLA,” he added before praising Rubin’s cheerful personality.
Rubin called in sick from Friday’s morning show, Buckley said, but the channel did not share additional details about his death.
A source familiar with the incident told The Times that Rubin suffered cardiac arrest at his West Valley home and was transported to a hospital Friday morning.
“The newsroom is in tears right now,” Buckley said on-air. He added that there was “a lot of emotion” among Rubin’s colleagues.
“I think we all feel that losing Sam is like losing a close family friend,” said Jamie Gruttemeyer of the Hollywood Alternative, Rubin’s manager. “Someone who could always lift your spirits, someone who was welcome in your home, and always showed up with a smile on his face. Sam will be forever missed.”
“Sam was a giant in the local news industry and the entertainment world, and a fixture of Los Angeles morning television for decades,” KTLA said of Rubin in a statement shared on social media. “His laugh, charm and caring personality touched all who knew him.”
Film critic Scott Mantz, who filled in for Rubin early Friday, wrote on social media that he was in “absolute shock” to learn about his colleague’s sudden death. “Sam was just the greatest guy,” Mantz wrote.
“I always called him ‘The Godfather of Entertainment News,’ and that was true. An absolute legend [and] a generous person,” Mantz added.
Sam Rubin brought a sense of Los Angeles authenticity that the fledgling KTLA 5 “Morning News” show needed, according to founding co-anchor Carlos Amezcua.
Journalist Sam Rubin arrives at the AARP Movies for Grownups Film Showcase in 2014.
(Vince Bucci/Vince Bucci /Invision/AP)
Amezcua, 70, described Rubin as “the connective tissue” that helped him, forecaster Mark Kriski and co-anchor Barbara Beck reach their intended audience.
“What can always be said about Sam is that he helped the ‘KTLA Morning News’ connect to Los Angeles as a native Angeleno who loved L.A. and knew the city better than anyone else on set,” said Amezcua, a San Diego native, who began with KTLA in 1991. “We had L.A. in our call letters and Sam always said that we knew L.A. and L.A. knew us.”
Rubin was known for his humor and developed a chemistry with Amezcua, the former anchor said. What impressed Amezcua most, however, was Rubin’s depth of knowledge.
“He knew Hollywood and what was important to the entertainment industry,” said Amezcua, co-founder of the digital streaming service Beond TV.
Over time, Amezcua said, viewers and even some within the industry began to regard Rubin as a celebrity.
“We used to make fun of him all the time about that,” Amezcua said. “I used to tell him ‘You’re as big as the celebrities you’re interviewing.’ He would just laugh and say ‘C’mon,’ but I think deep down he knew that.”
One aspect not seen on television was Rubin’s love of family, Amezcua said. He said both or them occasionally brought their families on set and they all befriended one another.
“I have five children and they all knew Sam and his family, and Sam was just so generous with his time,” Amezcua said. “He was a good family man and they loved him. We all loved him.”
Former news director Jason Ball, who worked at KTLA from 2008 to 2021 before retiring, called Rubin “bigger than life” and “a lion” who “deserves to be memorialized.”
Ball said he occasionally butted heads with Rubin on show ideas, but didn’t mind that his colleague “pushed him outside his comfort zone.”
“Sometimes you didn’t know what he was going to do, which could be a challenge for me,” Ball said. “But I always knew he had the show’s heart in mind and I don’t really know how KTLA is going to function without him.”
The journalist was born Feb. 16, 1960, and graduated from University High School and then Occidental College in Los Angeles, earning a degree in American studies and rhetoric.
Rubin joined KTLA’s “Morning News” program in 1991 and during his tenure earned a reputation for his disarming interviews and his warm personality on and off the air. As the face of KTLA’s entertainment coverage, Rubin won over Angeleno audiences, including celebrity viewers Tom Hanks and Henry Winkler.
“He made you feel special every single time,” Winkler said in a call to KTLA on Friday. “He made every human being feel so special and got them to open up like a flower.”
He also had a way of turning lead into gold. “There are a lot of stupid, boring celebrities out there,” “Alias” actor Greg Grunberg said via phone on the broadcast Friday. “And man, did he make them all seem interesting.”
“I truly loved Sam, who was so supportive of me and the industry in general,” “Bridesmaids” director Paul Feig wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “He was the best. I can’t quite process him being gone. Sending so much love to his family and friends. So sad. RIP Sam. Love you, pal.”
“It just feels like a bomb has gone off in Hollywood,” talk-show host and former “Entertainment Tonight” co-host Leeza Gibbons said on Friday’s broadcast. “He was curious and he was present. And those things make people feel special, whether you were being interviewed by him or watching him on TV.”
While best known for his KTLA presence, the San Diego-born reporter also brought his industry knowledge to platforms overseas. He regularly appeared on BBC Television and contributed regularly to Australia’s Triple M radio and Channel 9 Television, according to KTLA’s website.
The author of biographies on former first lady Jacqueline Onassis and “Rosemary’s Baby” star Mia Farrow, Rubin won multiple Daytime Emmys for his entertainment coverage. He also received a Golden Mike Award for entertainment reporting and an Associated Press Television and Radio prize for his work. Other accolades included honors from the Southern California Broadcasters Association, the Los Angeles Press Club and the National Hispanic Media Coalition.
“He was born to be a broadcaster. He was the best broadcaster that there is,” Eric Spillman, KTLA reporter and Rubin’s longtime colleague, said during Friday’s broadcast.
Outside of his on-air work, Rubin was a founding member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, owned a self-named television production company and supported several nonprofits.
Rubin is survived by his wife, Leslie Gale Shuman, and four children.
L.A. Times staff writer Richard Winton contributed to this report.
