Hal Fishman

Longtime KTLA Channel 5 anchor Hal Fishman died Tuesday, less than a week after he was diagnosed with colon cancer, the station announced. He was 75. Fishman died at home with his family. A newsman for nearly five decades, he was hospitalized last week with a serious infection after he collapsed at his home. While undergoing treatment for the infection, doctors discovered the cancer, which had spread to his liver. Called the "Flying Anchorman," Fishman was a veteran pilot who sometimes covered news stories from his own plane. He held a dozen world aviation records for speed and altitude, KTLA said. Like many Los Angeles television newscasters, Fishman also appeared from time to time in films and TV shows playing a version of himself. Most recently he was seen as the anchorman in the movie "Spider-Man 3." Fishman had anchored the station's 10 p.m. newscast since 1975. He joined KTLA in 1965 and reported on the 1968 assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, the 1994 Northridge earthquake and the 1991 Rodney King beating. His honors include a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; an Outstanding Broadcast Journalism Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, and a lifetime achievement award from The Associated Press Television-Radio Association.