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Newsman and Actor, Known for ‘Scarface,’ ‘RoboCop,’ ‘Rocky III,’ Dead at 78

May 6, 2013  •  Post A Comment

A pioneering TV news anchor who became an actor on TV and in films, including appearances in “Scarface,” the “RoboCop” movies and “Rocky III,” has died, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Mario Machado was 78.

Machado, who often played journalists on TV and in movies, died Saturday at a convalescent facility in West Hills, Calif., of complications from pneumonia after a battle with Parkinson’s disease, the story reports.

“Machado worked for many years at KCBS-TV, its predecessor KNXT and other local stations, earning eight Emmy Awards along the way,” the story reports. “In the early 1970s, he became one of the first, if not the first, Chinese-American on-air TV news reporters and anchors.”

He made his first credited appearance as an actor in 1969, playing a technician on “Mission” Impossible.” “He also appeared in the 1971 telefilm ‘Brian’s Song,’ the films ‘Oh, God!’ (1977) and ‘St. Elmo’s Fire’ (1985) and in such series as ‘Banacek,’ ‘Wonder Woman,’ ‘Barnaby Jones,’ ‘The Rockford Files,’ ‘Simon & Simon’ and ‘Beverly Hills, 90210,’” the report notes.

Machado also hosted a medical investigation show, “Medix,” which ran for eight seasons beginning in 1967, the piece reports.

“Born April 22, 1935, in Shanghai to a Portuguese father (a consulate official) and a Chinese-Portuguese mother, Machado played Casey Wong in three ‘RoboCop’ films in a parody of TV anchors and portrayed an interviewer in ‘Rocky III’ (1982) and ‘Scarface’ (1983),” the report adds.

mario-machado.jpgMario Machado

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