Dave McNary '74
Dave McNary '74, a beloved reporter who covered the film and labor beats at Variety for more than 20 years, died Dec. 16 in Pasadena, Calif., a week after suffering a stroke. He was 69.
He was remembered fondly by many entertainment industry colleagues, including Ava DuVernay, herself a Bruin, who Tweeted, "Thanks for the professionalism and kindness all these years, Dave. You’ll be remembered fondly by so many. Blessings as you journey on."
In a Variety tribute, Claudia Eller, Variety editor-in-chief, said, “We are all grief-stricken by Dave’s passing. Our newsroom will never be the same. There was no one as kind, compassionate, hard working and collegial as Dave. He was a very special person and he will be sorely missed by all who knew him.”
In that article, SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris echoed that sentiment. “Dave was a good man and his passing is such a loss. He was one of the few who really understood our industry and the changes it is going through,” Carteris told Variety. “He truly cared about working people and entertainment labor because it was more than just a story to him. He will be missed.”
In an L.A. Times obituary, his wife, Sharon McNary, said, "There was nobody who had as encyclopedic knowledge of the issues facing all the unionized workers in Hollywood.”
Born in Berkeley, Calif., and raised in San Rafael and Woodland (and, during his middle school years, in Barcelona, Spain), McNary earned his bachelor's degree in history while working his way up to editor of the Daily Bruin. He served on the inaugural board of the Daily Bruin Alumni Network, adored the annual on-campus reunions of the DBAN, and mentored many Bruin staffers who followed in his footsteps into journalism.
He worked at a number of publications over more than 40 years in journalism, including UPI, the Los Angeles Daily News, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune and the Pasadena Star-News, before joining Variety in 1999.
Tributes and obituaries spoke of what Variety called his "second career in comedy." The L.A. Times noted that "he was also a longtime fixture in the Los Angeles comedy scene, hosting the All-Star Variety Show, a weekly Sunday night showcase at the Ice House in Pasadena, for decades until the COVID-19 pandemic.
"His love of comedy dated to the 1970s, when he trained with the Groundlings and the group’s founder, Gary Austin. He performed with a comedy troupe called The Procrastinators, who regularly appeared on 'The Gong Show.'"
The family asks that donations be made in McNary's name to the Pasadena Humane Society, with a request to convert to a no-kill shelter, or the Daily Bruin Scholarship Fund, in support of UCLA students working toward careers in journalism and media.
In addition to the L.A. Times and Variety stories referenced above, read more in these additional obituaries:
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