AceShowbiz -

TV anchor and actor Mario Machado died at the age of 78 from complications of pneumonia at a convalescent facility in West Hills, California on Saturday, May 4, daughter Michelle Machado told the Los Angeles Times. Michelle also said that her father had suffered from Parkinson's disease.

Mario was born on April 22, 1935 in Shanghai to a Portuguese father, who worked as a consulate official, and a Chinese-Portuguese mother. He first appeared as an on-air reporter in 1967 on KHJ-TV (now KCAL-TV). Also in the same year, he began hosting the medical investigation show "Medix", which ran for eight seasons.

The first-ever Asian-American TV news reporter was also known for working at local stations like KNXT and KCBS-TV. In 1970, he became a regular reporter for L.A.'s most popular newscast at that time, "The Big News". His work won him 8 Emmys out of 10 nominations.

In 1969, Mario's tried acting by starring in an episode of "Mission: Impossible" as a technician. He played reporter roles in TV shows and films including "Brian's Song", "Wonder Woman", "Rocky III", "Scarface", "The Golden Girls", "St. Elmo's Fire" and three "RoboCop" films.

Mario is survived by his four children, Brian, Michelle, Dennis and Andrea Machado.