“Godfather of Bay Area sports producers,” former KPIX producer Art Dlugach dies in Texas
By CBS Bay Area
Art Dlugach, a longtime sports producer for KPIX in San Francisco, died Thursday morning in Texas, surrounded by his family after a brief illness. He was 82.
The Mississippi-born Dlugach began his broadcast career in Texas with stints in Waco and Dallas before coming to KPIX in 1969 as a film editor. He became a sports producer in 1974, working with renowned former pro football player and sports broadcaster Wayne Walker.
His colleague at KPIX and former San Francisco Chronicle sports writer Steve Kroner called Dlugach “the Godfather of Bay Area sports producers.”
“Wayne was eminently respected and admired, due at least in part to Art’s dedication to putting on informative and entertaining sportscasts,” wrote Kroner in a statement to KPIX.
Former KPIX reporter Mike Hegedus added, “As good as Wayne Walker was as a sports anchor, and as many contacts that Wayne had, he would not have been Wayne Walker the sportscaster without Artie Dlugach.”
In addition to teaming up with Walker, Dlugach worked with other Bay Area sportscasters such as Jan Hutchins, Fred McLeod, Joe Fonzi, Rick Quan, Doug Murphy, and NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts.
“I enjoyed working with him,” said Fouts by phone. “His enthusiasm and his passion for sports were unmatched.”
“Artie,” as he was known in the KPIX newsroom, left an indelible impression on anyone who worked with him. He was known for his frequent yelling, a dose of mayhem, and a focus on perfection – all wrapped up in sweetness.
KPIX producer Stephanie John called Dlugach “a firecracker.”
“When I was producing a live newscast, Artie would run into the control room with seconds to spare before the sportscast, yelling and waving his arms the whole time, to get exactly what he wanted on air,” mused John with a laugh.
But that sportscast, she added, was always great because of it.
Former news anchor Wendy Tokuda remembered how much fun it was to work with Dlugach.
“When I first started at PIX, they put me in the sports department and on a regular basis, Artie’s head would pop up over the partition that separated our desks, and there would be this explosion of yelling, he would then “harrumph” and disappear,” she recounted.
Dlugach left KPIX in 1998. He moved back to Texas to be near his family, where he began what he called his dream job, doing radio play-by-play for the Llano Yellow Jackets, a high school football team. He also became a sportswriter for the Llano News and the Horseshoe Bay Beacon.
Dlugach was the proud father of two daughters April and Kim, and loving grandfather of four grandchildren.
