Sam Rubin, 64, longtime entertainment anchor for KTLA
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.”
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.
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, cofounder of the digital streaming service BeondTV.
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.”
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.”
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.
“
Rubin is survived by his wife, Leslie Gale Shuman, and four children.