Condolences: Michael Jackson
• Talk radio personality Michael Robin Jackson, best known for his three decades of service at KABC/Los Angeles, died Saturday, Jan. 15 at his California home. He was 87 years old and had been battling Parkinson’s disease for the past decade.
Jackson’s death was confirmed to Variety by Lyle Gregory, his close friend and producer of 30 years, who said, “It was a testament to Michael, that so many of the guests and celebrities preferred to actually come in studio, rather than do phoners. With his British accent and boyhood charm, Michael made people comfortable, they opened up. That was his gift. Michael molded an interview into conversation, news and information. Like two people sitting at a kitchen table talking. A table, an open window, where millions tuned in daily across the nation, so many of them referring to Michael as their personal university.”
Jackson was born in England on April 16, 1934 and raised there during World War II before moving with his family to South Africa and, later, the United States, where he began his radio career in the Bay Area, working at KYA and KEWB before moving to Los Angeles to work at KHJ and all-news KNX. In 1966, Jackson joined KABC, beginning a decades-spanning tenure that lasted until 1998. During that time he was also was syndicated on the ABC Radio Network for nearly a decade. Jackson later worked across town KRLA, KLAC and KGIL until his retirement in 2007 at the age of 73.
In recognition of his numerous career accomplishments, Jackson received four Golden Mike Awards, a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1984, and was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2003. He was also named “No. 1 Talk Host of the Year” (1997-98) by the Los Angeles Times, received an honorary Doctorate of Laws from Western School of Law, and presented with the French Legion of Merit Award and the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE). In addition, more than 2,000 of Jackson’s iconic historic radio interviews housed in the Library of Congress.
Jackson was married to Alana Ladd from 1965 until her death in 2014. He is survived by the couple’s three children, Alan Jackson, Alisa Magno and Devon Jackson; their spouses and five grandchildren. The family asks that donation be made in Jackson’s name to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.
