Mario Machado. L.A. Newsman and Actor
Machado worked for many years at KCBS-TV and also appeared in several movies.
Mario Machado, a broadcast journalist who worked for many years at the Los Angeles station KCBS-TV and also appeared as an actor in several Hollywood movies, died May 4, 2013, in West Hills, California.
According to news reports, the cause was complications from Parkinson's disease.
Born in Shanghai, China, Machado had Chinese and Portuguese heritage. In 1967 he made TV history when he became the first Chinese American reporter and anchor in Los Angeles television. he later became America's first consumer affairs reporter.
He also hosted a radio program and narrated many documentaries and hosted different public affairs programs.
In addition, to his journalism, Machado worked as an actor and often played reporters on TV series and in Hollywood feature films. His credits included the television programs Mission: Impossible, The Brady Bunch and Murder, She Wrote, and such movies as Oh, God, Scarface and Rocky III. Action fans will remember him as newsman Casey Wong in three Robocop films.
For his advocacy of multiculturalism, Machado was recognized with various awards. He won the John Anson Ford Humanitarian Award in 1994 and was named Los Angeles County's Humanitarian of the Year in 1995. He was especially proud of being named a member of President Reagan's Child Safety Commission in 1986.
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