Shock, followed by warm memories of KTLA’s much-beloved Sam Rubin

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Sunday, May 12. Happy Mother’s Day. I’m your host, Andrew J. Campa. Here’s what you need to know to start your weekend:

• Los Angeles TV icon Sam Rubin dies.
• UCLA chancellor faces growing faculty criticism and turmoil.
• Here are various ways to spend Mother’s Day.
• And here’s today’s e-newspaper

Los Angeles mourns pioneer and friend Sam Rubin

When the initial shock wore off, tributes, tales and memories flowed from throughout Los Angeles after the sudden death of an area icon, entertainment journalist Sam Rubin.

The 64-year-old star of KTLA’s pioneering morning news program suffered a cardiac arrest at his West Valley home Friday morning. His family confirmed to KTLA that he had died of a heart attack.

Rubin was part of KTLA’s entertainment coverage for more than three decades and became a central figure in the growth of the quirky and fledgling “KTLA 5 Morning News.”

Vision for a different type of morning news show

The program was based on the premise that Angelenos would be more interested in watching local morning news than national shows like “Good Morning America.”

Rubin and co. weren’t sure the concept would endure, however, noting in a 2011 interview with reporter Greg Braxton that ratings were so dismal for the newscast at first “that we were pretty sure we wouldn’t last more than a year.”

He joined the show a few months after its premiere in July 1991 with a team that included anchors Carlos Amezcua and Barbara Beck, weatherman Mark Kriski, traffic reporter Jennifer York and reporter Eric Spillman.

Amezcua, 70, described Rubin as “the connective tissue” that helped the team reach its 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,” Amezcua said. “We had L.A. in our call letters, and Sam always said that we knew L.A. and L.A. knew us.”

What Hollywood is saying

Many of his interviewees paid homage on social media.

Director Ron Howard said Rubin “was always upbeat, gracious and fun to talk with on the air or off. His passing leaves a hole in the heart of the Hollywood community and industry.”

Physician-turned-actor Ken Jeong said Rubin “supported my career and countless others since Day One.”

Actress and anti-Scientologist advocate Leah Remini said Rubin was a “true gentleman” and a “comforting presence for so many Angelenos, always on our screens in good times and bad.”

One last story

Westchester resident Dan Garr always considered himself a fan of Rubin, but didn’t enter his life until Feb. 10, 2016.

That day, style expert Alison Deyette presented Rubin during the morning show with several gifts for his upcoming birthday, including a representation of Rubin during one of his most iconic moments.

Deyette handed Rubin a six-inch 3-D printed model capturing the occasion earlier in the year when supermodel and actress Heidi Klum hand-fed a willing Rubin a doughnut for his birthday.

Garr, chief creative officer of the toy research and product development company Hot Buttered Elves, was contracted by senior segment producer Leila Shalhoub to create the sculpture.

Garr previously worked with KTLA’s Allie Mac Kay. He was honored to develop the piece and watch Rubin’s on-air reaction.

“He had this look on his face after he received it; it was so Sam, it was so fun and I was just so happy,” said Garr, 59. “The humility he had and his ability to be himself and make everyone feel like you’re the most important person in the world is what made him special.”

Garr said Rubin was so moved by the gesture that the entertainment journalist gave him his personal phone number and they kept in touch. He also said Rubin told him he took the model home and admired it frequently.

Garr heard the news of Rubin’s passing while listening to KNX’s tribute to retiring journalist Jennifer York, Rubin’s former colleague. “That just hit me really hard, you know,” he said. “It’s like losing a member of your own family.”

The week’s biggest stories

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Graduation, protest and reactions

• UCLA chancellor faces growing faculty criticism, no-confidence vote after weeks of turmoil.
• Fireworks, drones, Travis Scott hats: USC hosts alternative graduation event. Feelings are mixed.
• Silenced USC valedictorian walked the stage, and the crowd reaction was anything but silent.
• Student protesters face same suspensions as those who bring assault rifles to campus.
• Opinion: The commencement USC students, and their parents, should have had.

Policing, crime and courts

• Orange County doctor accused of groping two female patients.
• Family demands answers after LAPD officers fatally shoot mentally ill man in Koreatown.
• L.A. prosecutors say recording of racist City Hall conversation was a crime but refer case to the city attorney.
• After mass shooting that killed farmworkers, Gov. Gavin Newsom urges Half Moon Bay to stop delaying housing project.

Environmental and health issues

• Brush fire burns more than 300 acres in Kern County.
• L.A. County captures 96 billion gallons of water during “super year” of storms.
• Solar storm heading to Earth could disrupt communications, brings northern lights to California.
• There’s a new, highly transmissible COVID-19 variant. Could FLiRT lead to a summer uptick?
• Founded in June 1924, Balboa Pharmacy is set to celebrate its centennial.

Homelessness

• Homelessness is down in Long Beach, up in Orange County, latest counts find.
• Homeless Initiative was awarded $51.5 million to assist 105 Freeway and river encampments.
• As L.A. County sees an increase in homeless families, agencies are struggling to help.

Sports beefs and news

• Shaquille O’Neal-Shannon Sharpe beef has reached diss track level. Here’s how we got here.
• Netflix is in the running for NFL Christmas games.
• Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter agrees to plead guilty to stealing $17 million.

More big stories

• Burning Man, home of “radical self expression,” removes pro-Palestinian sculpture from its website.
• Why did Huy Fong, the beloved Sriracha brand, halt production again?
• What to know about Gov. Newsom’s plan to offset California’s $45-billion deficit.
• Travelers is the latest California insurer to raise rates. How to find coverage in your area.
• Testimony details alleged motives in Mexico surfer slayings: “Money, devices and the pickup.”
• Battle in Huntington Beach after transgender surfer barred from longboard competition.

Get unlimited access to the Los Angeles Times. Subscribe here.

Column One

Column One is The Times’ home for narrative and longform journalism. Here’s a great piece from this week:

(Mortimer Productions)

This cryptic Mouse long ago replaced the Mickey of my childhood memories. By the time I became a reporter, I knew that Disney has long treated Anaheim as a political chamois, looking to squeeze as much as possible out of Orange County’s largest city.

More great reads

• Jewish voices struggle to find words of reconciliation in face of campus violence.
• Shari Redstone was poised to make Paramount a Hollywood comeback story.
• A Long Beach man started a petition to ban Airbnb in his neighborhood — and it worked.
• GardaWorld heist: The reason $30 million was in a Sylmar warehouse and not a bank.
• Column: Disneyland has already turned my hometown into a giant tourist trap. What’s next?
  

How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.

For your weekend

(Patrick Hruby / Los Angeles Times)

Going out

• 💐 For those celebrating Mother’s Day, here are 27 ways to spend time with mom.
• 🎨 It’s the last day to explore Los Angeles’ first art amusement park at Luna Luna in Boyle Heights, beginning at 11 a.m.
• 🖼️ Hollywood Farmers’ Market is hosting a Mother’s Day Art Fair, starting at 8 a.m.

Staying in

• 🎭 Britain’s top television award show, the BAFTAs, kicks off today and can be seen on BritBox of BBC iPlayer.
• 🤼 Last winter’s blockbuster sports wrestling drama “The Iron Claw” debuts this weekend on Max.
• 🧑‍🍳 Here’s a Mother’s Day lemon ricotta pancake recipe in case a homemade brunch is in the works.
• ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, Sudoku, word search and arcade games.

L.A. Affairs

Get wrapped up in stories about dating, relationships and marriage.

(Alyah Holmes / For The Times)

We sneaked more drinks into the theater and watched Paul Giamatti in “The Holdovers,” which made me cry. Chris held my hand. We stumbled into another movie — a private screening of a live production of “Titanic the Musical.” We didn’t want our night to end, so we went to Barney’s for a nightcap. Standing outside of our favorite bar, we shared our first kiss. It felt overdue.

Have a great weekend, from the Essential California team

Andrew J. Campa, reporter
Carlos Lozano, news editor

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