Prominent Los Angeles television news anchor Warren Wilson, known for breaking down racial barriers and arranging the safe surrender of nearly two dozen fugitives to police, has died at the age of 90 in Oxnard.
Wilson retired from KTLA in 2005 after a four-decade career that included some of the biggest stories in LA history — the Watts riots, the murder of Charles Manson, the murder of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and the North Hollywood Bank of America shootout. Wilson landed the first televised interview with Rodney King in jail and the first interview with OJ Simpson after he was acquitted of murder.
“His on-air demeanor as a good television journalist was as original as his father’s, unassuming, sincere, and his voice was calm and smooth,” said his son Stanley Wilson in a statement about his father’s death.
Wilson, the son of North Carolina sharecroppers, became one of the first black reporters on the air in Los Angeles in 1969. He worked at KNBC and the NBC news network for 15 years before joining KTLA in 1984.
During his trailblazing career, Wilson collected six LA area Emmy awards as well as awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, Los Angeles Press Club, California Legislature, American Civil Liberties Union, LA County Board of Supervisors, Los Angeles. The City Council and the Los Angeles Police Department.
Continuing to be a voice for the Black community, Wilson played an important role in exposing police brutality through coverage of the riots of 1965 and 1992. Due to the deep trust he established in the community of color, he was able to mediate in arranging the surrender of 22 fugitives wanted by law enforcement.
“People know that if Warren Wilson was involved, there wouldn’t be any mistreatment,” LA City Councilman Bernard Parks, who saw Wilson at crime scenes when he was police chief, told The Times in 2005.
While some people criticized Wilson for being too personal in criminal cases, Wilson always stood by his approach and supported those who saved lives.
“I guess I can identify with the underdog because of what I had to go through as a black man working in a white world,” Wilson told The Times in 1993. “I take some pride in thinking that maybe someone – the suspect. or the police – remains live because of all this.”
The reporter said he inherited a strong moral compass, including a deep sense of equality, from his father, who was once attacked by members of the Ku Klux Klan in North Carolina.
“He told me, ‘Listen, they’re going to beat you in the knees, in the back, but you’ve got to get back up because as long as you stay there, you’ll always be there,'” Wilson told The Times in 2005. “‘But if you go up again you will always be a step above people.’ “
This advice helped Wilson reach rare heights in an industry often hostile to journalists of color.
Wilson got his start in the news business at the US Navy press office in the 1950s, then worked at City News Service and the Los Angeles bureau of United Press International.
During his early journalism career he faced white mobs, armed segregationists and police chiefs who questioned his legitimacy as a Black journalist, according to the family.
When Wilson worked at KTLA, News at Ten was the top-rated primetime newscast and held that title for 21 years.
When Wilson retired from news in 2005, he left an industry that had changed dramatically from when he entered — but, he noted, not all was for the better.
In a 2005 interview with The Times, he expressed concern that television news focused more on celebrities and entertainment than hard news.
He also had problems with KTLA and in 2004 filed a discrimination complaint, alleging that he was paid less than younger white reporters.
However, he said he ended his career with pride and satisfaction, telling The Times, “I’ve done everything I set out to do, despite the obstacles I faced at the beginning.”
Wilson is survived by six children: Pamela Wilson, Melissa Jones, Elizabeth Wilson, Ronald Wilson, Stanley Wilson and stepdaughter Debra Hansen. Their second daughter, Kim T. Wilson died in 2003.
