David Sheehan

In 1970, David Sheehan was the first entertainment reporter and critic on a news broadcast in the history of television. Sheehan wrote, produced and hosted the most successful o-t-o (one time only) syndicated special in the history of television: Academy Awards Movie Magic, airing in 96.544% of the United States on 259 stations in 198 markets, many during Oscar weekend. Besides interviewing all the Best Actor and Best Actress Oscar nominees, the show featured an exclusive in-depth career profile and candid conversation with Sheehan's longtime pal Chita Rivera, who was nominated for Best Director and Best Picture for Letters from Iwo Jima (2006). No stranger to TV firsts, Sheehan, in 1972, on KCBS-TV in Los Angeles, was the first commentator to ever critique television on television, drawing "biting the hand" feature articles in both Time and Life magazines. In 1975, he was the first local newsman to ever work for two networks simultaneously: appearing daily on "America Alive" on NBC and "The Big News" on CBS. In 1979 he hosted and produced the first Pay-TV monthly series in history, "Backstage in Hollywood", on HBO. Also in 1975, he produced, wrote and hosted the first pre-Oscar specials in the history of television with "Oscar Hopefuls", "Emmy Hopefuls" and "Grammy Hopefuls". In the early 1980s, Sheehan produced and camera directed Pippin: His Life and Times (1981), with Bob Fosse directing the choreography, and starring Ben Vereen and Martha Raye. At NBC, Sheehan was the first local entertainment reporter to host and produce his own series of network specials, under the tutelage of then NBC president Don Ohlmeyer, including "Macho Men of the Movies" (with Clint Eastwood, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger) and "Hollywood's Leading Ladies" (with Julia Roberts, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sharon Stone and Barbra Streisand). Sheehan worked the 1970s and early 1980s on KCBS-TV, moved to KNBC-TV from 1984-94, and finished up his 33 years of daily newscasting back at KCBS-TV from 1994 to 2004. He hosted three national specials every year for many years: "Summer Movie Magic", "Holiday Movie Magic" and "Academy Awards Movie Magic" (with Jack Nicholson recurring), all syndicated by Sheehan's production/distribution company, Hollywood Close-Ups Inc., in Studio City, California. Sheehan had three children: son Brian Sheehan, actor turned owner/operator of the Eclectic Wine Bar & Grill; daughter Shannon, a real estate developer; and daughter Kelly, a recording studio engineer/producer for such pop music stars as Kenneth 'Babyface' Edmonds, Tyrese Gibson, and Usher. Until his death in 2020, Sheehan and his wife, actress Susan Angelo, divided their time between Marina Del Rey (California), the Upper West Side (New York City), Indianapolis-Bloomington (Indiana) and his hometown of Columbus, Ohio. Sheehan's college education included Ohio State University, Notre Dame University, finally finishing up at UCLA. After college, he was a newspaperman with the United Press International syndicate, covering celebrities in politics and winning accolades for his insider reporting on Frank Sinatra's "Rat Pack" involvement in John F. Kennedy's 1960 presidential campaign. His magazine writing for Esquire, Playboy, Mademoiselle, and Los Angeles Magazine included rare interviews with "Tropic of Capricorn" author Henry Miller, mental health pioneer Abraham Maslow, Gestalt Therapy founder Fritz Perls, and Zen interpreter Alan Watts. In the late 1960s, Sheehan was producer, actor and director of the Los Angeles Theater Now Troupe, producing the West Coast Premieres of plays by Edward Albee, Norman Mailer and Jules Feiffer. The Sheehan production of Feiffer's "Little Murders" broke box office records in 1969. Sheehan was also the author of one published novel "Before I Wake", under the nom de plume of David Dury. The book's editor was "Tropic of Capricorn" author Henry Miller.