San Diego

Former KUSI Entertainment Reporter Fred Saxon Dies

Former KUSI entertainment reporter and TV personality Fred Saxon died Thursday from a heart attack, his girlfriend told NBC 7. He died at his home near Detroit. He was 76.

Saxon was a familiar face on television in San Diego for nearly two decades. He was the entertainment reporter for KUSI from 1991 to 2000 and for the now-defunct XETV-Fox 6 from 2002 to 2005. In between the stints at KUSI and Fox, he hosted a half-hour arts and entertainment program for KPBS and UPN 13.

“He always woke up with a smile on his face and wondering what today is going to bring,” his girlfriend Kathy Nader said.

Saxon was loved by everyone who’s worked with him. Former KUSI weather anchor Terry Burhans remembered the first time he met Saxon in 1977 when Saxon was covering entertainment for CNN.

They both were on a media junket for the new ABC shows that season, which included shows such as “Mork and Mindy” and “Dallas.”

“Between interviews, I was in the hotel’s lobby and I heard a page, ‘Phone calls for Fred Saxon,’ Burhans said. “Later at dinner, I introduced myself to a guy sitting next to me and he said his name was Freddie. I said, ‘Are you Fred Saxon?’ He said, ‘Yeah, how’d you know.’ I said, ‘There was a page for you.’ He said, ‘Yeah, I know. I called myself and paged me.’”

Burhans last talked to Saxon on Tuesday and he sounded so happy and full of life, he said.

“I love him like a brother,” Burhans said. “He was an individual unlike any other. He was an amazing person.”

His death was first announced on Facebook by radio personality Bob “Sully” Sullivan. Saxon was a regular contributor on his radio show, “Big Biz Show,” for 20 years.

“Just yesterday he did a half-hour segment with me and Russ Stolnack - laughing, doing his corny jokes and his horrible Stallone impersonation,” Sullivan wrote on his Facebook page.

Saxon wasn’t only known in San Diego. His work appeared on “Entertainment Tonight,” “The Tonight Show” and “The Bert Newton Show” on Australia’s Nine Network.

Saxon began his career in Atlanta where he received the first of his five Emmy nominations. He’s won two Emmys for his work over the course of his 25 years on television.

He was also an actor, appearing on such shows as “Dallas,” “Dark Skies” and “Silk Stalkings.”

Saxon is survived by his daughter and granddaughter.

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