David Sheehan

Birthday: March 31, 1938 in Ohio, USA

In 1970, David Sheehan was the first entertainment reporter and critic on a news broadcast in the history of television.Now, 37 years later, David Sheehan has written, produced and hosted the most suc ...Show More

In 1970, David Sheehan was the first entertainment reporter and critic on a news broadcast in the history of television.Now, 37 years later, David Sheehan has written, produced and hosted the most successful o-t-o (one time only) syndicated special in the history of television: Academy Awards Movie Magic, airing in 96.544% of the U.S.A., on 259 stations in 198 markets, many during Oscar weekend.Besides interviewing all the Best Actor and Best Actress Oscar nominees, the show also features an exclusive in-depth career profile and candid conversation with Sheehan's longtime pal Clint Eastwood, who is nominated for Best Director and Best Picture for "Letters from Iwo Jima".David Sheehan is no stranger to TV firsts:In 1972, on KCBS-TV in Los Angeles, Sheehan was also the first commentator to ever critique television on television, drawing "biting the hand" feature articles in both Time and Life magazines.In 1975 he was the first local newsman to ever work for two networks simultaneously: appearing daily on "America Alive" on NBC and "The Big News" on CBS. In 1979 he hosted and produced the first Pay-TV monthly series in history, "Backstage in Hollywood" on HBO. Also in 1975 Sheehan also produced, wrote and hosted the first Pre-Oscar specials in the history of television with "Oscar Hopefuls", "Emmy Hopefuls" and "Grammy Hopefuls."In the early 1980s, Sheehan produced and camera directed "Pippin", with Bob Fosse directing the choreography, and starring Ben Vereen and Martha Raye. "Pippin" was the first Broadway musical ever captured by cameras during live stage performance in history. "Pippin" still plays today on cable and Pay-TV and the DVD is currently on the "musicals" honor roll at home video stores and websites everywhere.In the 1980s, at NBC, Sheehan was the first local entertainment reporter to host and produce his own series of network specials, under the tutelage of then NBC president Don Ohlmeyer, including "Macho Men of the Movies" (with Clint Eastwood, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger) and "Hollywood's Leading Ladies" (with Julia Roberts, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sharon Stone and Barbra Streisand).Sheehan worked the 70s and early 80s on KCBS-TV, moved to KNBC-TV from '84 to '94, and finished up his 33 years of daily newscasting back at KCBS-TV from 1994 to 2004.Since then, he has been hosting three national specials every year: "Summer Movie Magic", "Holiday Movie Magic" and "Academy Awards Movie Magic" (with friend Jack Nicholson recurring), all syndicated by his Hollywood Close-Ups, Inc. ProductionDistributionCo headquartered in Studio City, California.Sheehan is the father of three children, all doing business in and around the Hollywood area: his son Brian is owner operator of the Eclectic Wine Bar & Grill; his daughter Shannon is a real estate developer; and his daughter Kelly is a recording studio engineer and producer for pop music stars Kenny "Babyface" Edmunds, Tyrese Gibson and Usher.Sheehan and his wife, actress Susan Angelo, live vagabond lives, residing primarily in Marina Del Rey, California, New York's upper west side, the Indianapolis-Bloomington area of Indiana and his hometown Columbus, Ohio.Sheehan's college education includes Ohio State University, The University of Notre Dame, and finally finishing up at UCLA.After college, Sheehan was a newspaperman with the United Press International syndicate, covering celebrities in politics and winning accolades for his insider reporting on Frank Sinatra's "Rat Pack" involvement in the 1962 John F. Kennedy presidential campaign.His magazine writing for Esquire, Playboy, Mademoiselle and Los Angeles Magazine included rare interviews with "Tropic of Capricorn" author Henry Miller, mental health pioneer Abraham Maslow, Gestalt Therapy founder Fritz Perls, and Zen interpreter Alan Watts. His articles on philosophers Michael and Dennis Murphy gave America its first view of the legendary 'Human Potentiality Movement' at Big Sur's Esalen Institute, which also took readers through an actual psychedelic experience guided by Sheehan's interview subjects Timothy Leary and Richard ("Baba Ram Dass") Alpert.In the late 1960s, Sheehan was producer, actor and director of L.A.'s Theater Now Troupe, producing the West Coast Premieres of plays by Edward Albee, Norman Mailer and Jules Feiffer. The Sheehan production of Feiffer's "Little Murders" broke box office records in 1969.Sheehan is also the author of one published novel "Before I Wake", under the Nome De plume David Dury. The book's editor was "Tropic of Capricorn" author Henry Miller. Hide