Former S. Fla. TV Anchor John Hambrick Dies Of Cancer
MIAMI (CBSMiami) — Former South Florida news anchor John Hambrick has passed away. Hambrick died Tuesday under hospice care in Texas of cancer. He was 73. He was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2012, and it metastasized to his brain.
Hambrick had a 30-year-career in TV news that took him from Texas to Ohio to California to New York and finally to South Florida.
In Miami, Hambrick worked at both WTVJ and WCIX.
He was on the anchor desk at WTVJ for 4 years, from 1985 to 1989.
He eventually moved to WCIX-Channel 6, (now WFOR-CBS4). He left WCIX in 1993.
Hambrick received many professional awards over the years, including an Emmy in 1984 for co-anchoring the best newscast in New York.
"John was a legend in this community," said Liz Roldan, news director at CBS4.
"He set a standard that all of us in the local television industry strive to meet, simply because it makes us all better at what we do. John was larger than life — not surprising because he was a fellow Texan — but also due to his authoritative delivery and his commanding presence."
Hambrick grew up in Texas and Louisiana. At a young age, he loved acting. He studied theater in high school and at the University of Texas. He dropped out of high school and went to Hollywood to become a star. Among roles he landed were small parts in General Electric Theater and Playhouse 90.
He also loved music, specifically country music and also loved to write it. In 1972, his wrote and recorded a rock/country-western album called Windmill in a Jet Filled Sky. It received positive reviews but wasn't a big seller.
After Hambrick retired from TV, he appeared in an episode of NBC's Friday Night Lights in 2006; he recently co-wrote a screenplay about John Hunt Morgan, the Confederate general who invaded Ohio 150 years.
Hambrick is survived by his wife Barbara, his high school sweetheart, and three children, Jack, Meredith and Mignon.
Graveside services in Texas are planned.
Friends may donate to the Lone Oak Cemetery Association, PO Box 494, Lone Oak, Texas, 75453.
Watch video below from WCIX on John Hambrick's final night on the air.
