Dunphy ‘Was the News’

For generations of local news viewers, Jerry Dunphy was the familiar and authoritative newsman who began each newscast with a warm smile and his trademark greeting, “From the desert to the sea to all of Southern California.”

But for numerous colleagues who worked with him during the last four decades in his stints at various stations, Dunphy was a dedicated newsman secure in his standing as the elder statesman of local TV news. He could be gruff and demanding, they recalled, but his softer side regularly shone through. He was patient and helpful with inexperienced journalists seeking his advice. And he had a teasing, pointed sense of humor.

Dunphy, one of the main anchors at KCAL Channel 9, died Monday after suffering a heart attack five days before in front of his Wilshire Boulevard condominium.

He has been remembered as one of the key forces behind some of Los Angeles’ most innovative TV news formats. During the 1960s and for half of the 1970s, he was the primary anchor for KNXT’s “The Big News,” one of the first local newscasts in the country to run for an hour each night. In 1975, he moved to KABC-TV Channel 7, where he was an anchor for “Eyewitness News,” which combined titillating stories with friendly banter. He also did two stints at KCAL, separated by a three-year term beginning in 1994 at KCBS Channel 2 (the former KNXT).

Dunphy also helped inspire characters such as the blustery Ted Baxter on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and Kent Brockman, the news anchor on “The Simpsons.”

Since his death, several co-workers agreed to reminisce about Dunphy and their personal and professional interactions with him. In addition, KCAL will repeat its one-hour tribute to Dunphy, which was broadcast last week, at 9 Monday.

Don Corsini, general manager, KCAL:

The first time I met Jerry was in my first job in television in 1973. I was a sales guy at KNXT, and Jerry was the lead anchor with “The Big News,” the dominant newscast in the market. There was a technicians’ strike that year, and when that happens, [other staff] pull strike duty. I was assigned to the TelePrompTer.

On a Friday night, I had a dinner party at my house. I was young and lived about four blocks from the station. I remember I had about four glasses of wine, was feeling pretty good, then I remembered that I had to hurry up and get back to work. I rushed back and started pasting copy into the TelePrompTer. When it got near the top of the hour, the TelePrompTer jammed with my copy and started tearing. I tried to jigger with it, but I had a machine with very little copy.

The show started, and Jerry came on with “From the desert to the sea to all of Southern....” Then he stopped. He managed to go on, but at the commercial break, he pitched a fit like you wouldn’t believe. Our stage manager told him I was not our normal TelePrompTer operator, and he said, “I don’t care who he is! Get a competent television operator in here so I can do my show!” From that point on, he was my hero. We used to laugh about that all the time. He was all over me that day, and 30 years later, we’re still together in work and in spirit. He’s the dean of broadcast journalism.

Pat Harvey, anchor, KCAL:

I was absolutely amazed by Jerry’s energy. He could outlast all of us when it came to good old-fashioned fun. On several occasions, a group of us would gather at Spago for a late dinner and conversation after the newscast. He closed the place down! The cleaning crew had finished, the chairs were placed on top of the tables and the parking attendants were practically falling asleep waiting for us to collect our cars and go home. He could also dance circles around everyone on the floor ... without getting tired.

Jerry was also a man who knew what he liked. He would present wonderful fragrances as Christmas gifts. Once he had me in tears from laughing so hard. He said, while we were still wearing microphones on the set, “Pat, when you have to work with people every day, you want to make sure it’s as pleasant an experience as possible, and I just don’t like the perfume some of our co-workers wear, so I thought I’d help them out.” But he meant it in the best way. His heart was as legendary as his broadcasting career. I learned a lot from him. I love him and miss him terribly.

Laura Diaz, anchor, KABC-TV:

When I was a kid, I would watch Jerry on “The Big News.” To me, Jerry was the news. When I began at KABC in 1988, I was a young kid, new in the market. He was so kind to me. He took time out to help me, and that was so important. Jerry always had time for me. He always had a twinkle in his eye, that Irish charm that time and age could not diminish. I have nothing but admiration for him.

Paul Moyer, anchor, KNBC-TV, who worked with Dunphy at KABC:

Jerry always wanted to let folks know that he was the senior horse in the corral. One day we were sitting together at KABC and he turned to me and said, “You know what, Paul?” and I said, “What, Dunph?” and he said, “I’m going to do this till I’m 80.” I said, “Yeah, right.” And he absolutely did. He wanted to let the younger anchors know he was going to be around for a while. He was a very funny guy; he loved to tease people.

Gary Franklin, former KABC and KCBS movie critic who worked with Dunphy at Channel 7 from 1985 to 1989:

He was exactly what they needed and wanted. He was Ted Baxter.... Women loved him. He wasn’t a reporter, he was a [news] reader, but he was as good a reader as anyone in the business.... I felt comfortable with him anchoring. He was always a gentleman, an old-school kind of guy.

Allan Burns, one of the executive producers of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” on the kinship between Dunphy and the Ted Baxter character. In researching a TV newsroom, Burns and James L. Brooks spent time at Channel 2:

Coincidentally, Mary’s aunt, Alberta Hackett, was the executive assistant to Bob Wood, who was then the local manager of Channel 2. So Bertie Hackett got us access to the newsroom and we hung around there for a while.... And you look at Jerry, and he was the quintessential local newsman, wasn’t he? So I think a lot of the look and the voice, the big baritone voice and all that, certainly came from him.

There was also a little [of the arrogance of longtime TV anchor] George Putnam. But Jerry, as I said, was the guy with the stentorian voice and the gray hair with the firm jaw who looked into the camera. But it ended there, because Jerry wasn’t dumb. We needed the comedy relief of the anchorman who didn’t know particularly what he was saying. [Baxter] was just a reader, not a professional newsman. I think Jerry was.

*

Times staff writers Greg Braxton, Paul Brownfield and Brian Lowry assembled this story.