Legendary KTVU anchor Dennis Richmond dies at 81

GRASS VALLEY, Calif. - Remembering Dennis Richmond: Share a memory with KTVU here

Legendary KTVU anchor Dennis Richmond, the quintessential newsman of four decades – an anchor still most associated with Channel 2 long after his retirement, died Wednesday at the age of 81. 

Friends told KTVU that Richmond died in Grass Valley, Calif., with his wife, Deborah, at his side. She was holding his hand until the end, friends said. 

"Dennis was a strong presence in the KTVU newsroom for decades, guiding the team and setting high standards for himself and his colleagues in everything they did," KTVU General Manager Mellynda Hartel said.  "His impact is still felt in the KTVU newsroom today."

KTVU Assistant News Director Darren Zulberti said Richmond helped mentor him as a young journalist, and then the veteran newsman quickly turned from mentor to friend. 

"He always reminded me and those around him to treat the viewer with respect, reporting oftentimes difficult news in uncertain times with clarity, context and straightforward delivery," Zulberti said.

Richmond's longtime co-anchor, Julie Haener, who retired last year, said in a tearful interview that the Bay Area news scene has suffered a great loss. 

She visited him two months ago in the hospital after he had suffered a heart attack and fall. 

"He was a fighter," she said. "He held on for as long as he could. He was so respected. This news is going to hit people really, really hard." 

Richmond was known by viewers and coworkers alike as the most reliable voice during times of crisis and confusion, and the unshakable calm in the center of a storm. He was most visually recognizable by his smart suits and thick mustache. 

Richmond, one of the nation’s first Black anchors of a major market TV newscast, joined KTVU as a clerk and rose to the rank of anchor in 1976, a job he held until 2008, when he retired five days before he turned 65. 

Aside from Haener, Richmond co-anchored alongside Barbara Simpson, Elaine Corral and Leslie Griffith, who died in 2022. 

Under Richmond, the Ten O’Clock news became the Bay Area’s top-rated nightly newscast – a title the station still holds to this day. 

WATCH: A look back at Dennis Richmond's life and career 

There is no other anchor in the history of Bay Area journalism who is still as well-known as Richmond. 

"Like so many people in the Bay Area, I fondly remember growing up watching Dennis Richmond on the news," former Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin, who is now a state senator wrote on X. "He set the standard for journalistic excellence and integrity, inspiring generations of journalists. He will be greatly missed but never forgotten."

More Bay Area viewers turned to Channel 2 during cataclysmic events to hear Richmond announce the facts. 

Even today, whenever the station name KTVU comes up in conversation, the first comment often made is: "I love Dennis Richmond."

In 2008, the San Francisco Chronicle wrote an article about him with the headline "Dennis Richmond is bigger than Oprah." 

He was so iconic, that in 2016, comedy troupe, The Lonely Island, teamed up with Oakland artist Matt Ritchie to create a limited edition Bay Area themed wallpaper featuring rappers Too $hor and E-40, chef Alice Waters, football hall of famer Joe Montana, political activist Angela Davis and of course, Richmond himself. 

Richmond’s biggest stories as a reporter included covering the 1976 kidnapping trial of Patricia Hearst and the 1978 assassinations of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk by former Supervisor Dan White.

In 1989, he co-anchored the Loma Prieta earthquake from the KTVU parking lot. And in 1991, he delivered the news about the Oakland hills firestorm, telling stories of heroism and tragedy.

Mark Chekal, a longtime viewer who now lives in Berkeley, said that after the big quake, he and his neighbors set up a camp in Duboce Park in San Francisco because they were worried about structural damage to their apartment building. 

He remembers watching the news on a battery-powered TV on a blanket as Richmond reported on the devastation throughout the Bay Area.

"Dennis was always the go-to source for all we needed to know," Chekel said. 

Richmond told the Chronicle in a 2010 interview that before he and Corral went on the air during the earthquake, the news director said, "People are going to look at you for direction. If you are excited and nervous, they are going to be excited and nervous. You have to be calm." 

He said he saw his job was to report the news without a lot of unnecessary chat, and treat his audience as if they are the most intelligent people in the world.

Before it was called the Ten O’Clock news, the nightly segment was called Action News. 

Richmond wanted that name to mean something. 

Once, he dangled from the 47th floor of a building to air a report. Another time, he flew with the Blue Angels, doing loop-de-loops over the San Francisco bay. 

But Richmond could also be lighthearted and personal as well.

He anchored a piece about the disco craze, and when he quit smoking, he shared with viewers how he kicked the habit. 

Richmond grew up in Rossford, Ohio, served in the Army from 1961 to 1964 with the 82nd Airborne Division and ultimately graduated from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1969 on a scholarship, which he was offered while working at KTVU.

Richmond leaves behind his wife, his daughter and stepson. 

After retirement, the couple moved to Grass Valley in Nevada County. 

He enjoyed working out, playing tennis, watching nature shows and staying healthy by taking lots of vitamins. He had battled some health issues, including a heart attack and prostate cancer about a decade ago. 

Upon his retirement, Richmond said that the proudest achievement of his whole career was staying at one station, developing a special rapport with his audience. 

EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this story reported that Richmond was 82. 

 

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