Stan Chambers, who reported on Los Angeles from television's infancy through its golden era, died Friday morning at 91 years old, according to KTLA, the station where he worked for more than 60 years.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Chambers family,” KTLA President and General Manager Don Corsini said, according to the station. “Stan was a brilliant journalist and one of the best in the business.”
In an August 2010 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Chambers said the story that stood out most to him during his career was the 1949 death of 3-year-old Kathy Fiscus. The girl fell into a well in San Marino, near Pasadena, and Chambers was part of a team that provided hours of continuous live coverage of the rescue effort.
It is recognized as the first live TV coverage of a breaking news story.
He was the first to report on the video of Rodney King's arrest, covered the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and covered the Rose Parade for years, starting in 1949, according to the city of Los Angeles, which named August 13, 2010, in his honor.
"Stan Chambers is one of the greatest reporters ever to be in our city,'' city councilman Tom LaBonge said at Friday's council meeting.
Chambers retired in 2010, after 63 years at the station. KTLA News Director Jason Ball said he died Friday at home in Los Angeles after a long illness.
Asked in a 1998 interview if he had wanted to be on TV, he said yes, not because he had a burning desire to make a career but because he enjoyed it.
"It's more fun than tennis and golf, and that's what I was doing -- and getting paid for it," Chambers said.
Jonathan Lloyd, The Associated Press and The City News Service contributed to this report.
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