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| Kate Kelly |
THEY WERE THE "IT" COUPLE IN THE LATE 80's and 90's, at least in Bay Area TV Media circles...
KPIX had a romantic dynamic duo: Kate Kelly and Doug Murphy were like bread and butter but fate and uncontrollable behavior by one person took over and ruined the fairytale --a remarkable love bond and talk of the town.
Kelly was working her way up the PIX personality file; she was to become its certifiable STAR and golden girl. She was Kate "Supple" from a Stanford pedigree and absolute beauty. Her face and image reminded everyone of Princess Grace. She was even more beautiful in person. And more than just a pretty face, she was one dynamic news anchor and force in the market, a Bay Area treasure.
Soon, Kelly was dating another BIG TIME anchor at the PIX studios at 855 Battery, a talented one himself, Doug Murphy. Murphy began in sports and also worked out in the field. He was charming, tenacious, hard-working and soon emerged as one of the station's biggest personalities --a force to be reckoned with and as engaging supreme, all that and more.
But like other rock stars --so to speak, Murphy had issues. A big one. He had problems with the bottle, namely something like Amstel lite. It was only beer but Murph drank a lot of Amstel lite --I knew first hand when we used to schmooze at the Kings X bar in Oakland --Murphy's regular hangout, a place where I first met his girlfriend at the time, Kelly.
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| Doug Murphy/KPIX photo |
A shame.
They moved forward, sort of. Kelly went her separate way. She continued her career at PIX and Doug began doing news in addition to sports. His personal life improved. He met a woman in the East Bay and had kids. Things seemed to be getting better --but tragedy hit: Murphy, battling a myriad of health and personal issues died in a Lafayette house fire in 2005. He was only 55 years old.
What a run, Murphy would say today were he alive. He was a real good man. I can tell you first hand.
I didn't know Kate all that well, even today but I'd bet she feels the same way.
The two things I remember from the 1989 Super Bowl parade was seeing Joe and Jennifer on one motorized cable car and seeing Kate Kelly on another. I was stunned at how beautiful she was. You're right. She was better looking IRL
ReplyDeleteYou want to talk about the best looking , brightest anchors ever? Suzanne Saunders and George Watson...together at KSBW in Salinas before going on, separately(post their own marriage) to careers in SF.
ReplyDeleteAn excellent by Christine. I’m shocked.
DeleteYou are right about George, Christine. Never met Suzanne, so I really can't say. George was a City boy -- went to
DeleteSt. Ignatius and USF. A terrific guy. Hope he is doing well.
Any relation to Saunders Shaw?
DeleteI don't understand why women—often smart women, at least on paper—think they can "cure" troubled men. Troubled means troubled. Look at the batting record—name me one personality in the Bay Area who turned it around? Doug Murphy? George Watson? Leslie Griffith? Terilyn Joe? Nope, nope, nope and nope. Yet people, especially women, seem to cling to fantasies, as if they believe they have The Magic Touch. Anyone who has The Magic Touch should bottle it and market it. They'd become the richest person on the planet. (At least until Jeff Bezos bought your company...then he'd be the richest person in the planet again, since that's how he acquires his wealth.)
ReplyDeleteSo who, which woman, particularly and specifically,thought that she could cure anyone?
DeleteI met KK a few times out n' about in Marin County. Classy lady
ReplyDeleteI've never met Kelly, but I know a few people who have. They all said that she was very pleasant and down-to-earth. Good reporter and anchor, too.
ReplyDeleteGood story, thanks Rich.
ReplyDeleteIf Kate Kelly was still on a local station, or a national station,
ReplyDeleteI would still watch her. She was always professional and most pleasant to watch. So Rich, where is she now and what is she doing?
Used to watch Doug Murphy doing news and was very good as well as Kate Kelly.
ReplyDeleteI remember watching the news.
ReplyDeleteKings X, where Britannica Ben and his trivia pals hung out? I met and worked with Britannica Ben, and he rarely if ever mentioned Murphy. So I guess when Kings X didn't have Trivia Night or any other special nights, then the man who anchored PIX weekends during most of Dave McElhatton's tenure took over the bar.
ReplyDeleteWhen Ken Bastida succeeded McElhatton, and Kelly focused her reporting on launching KPIX's weekly Jefferson Award segment, Barbara Rodgers took over the weekends in the early-mid-2000s. I remember Rodgers headlining that one Saturday night story when PIX lost one of its most successful news alums; Murphy's fatal house fire was deemed an accident. Didn't Rich or anyone else state that there was more to it than the accident itself? Sad, either way. Murphy was pretty good with his work.
And of course, when Rodgers herself retired, they tried a few different reporters on the weekends, and thankfully, they settled on PIX's current best anchor of all, Juliette Goodrich. Jules seems to get better every broadcast. Today, Kelly covers CBS Health news.
A cool blonde, but no Grace Kelly.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the story - when Kate read his obit on air got the feeling there was more between them
ReplyDeleteBoth terrific broadcast journalists
I too loved Doug Murphy, but I left him after 4 years because of his drinking. It was the devil he could not defeat. Because Doug was so charming and magnetic, everyone gave him extra chances - the police officers who didn’t ticket him for DWI, the fans who bought him extra drinks, and yes, the women who loved him, myself included. Doug could get violent when he drank and I was often in fear of both our lives. I tried to help him, but he could not acknowledge his problem. No one could “fix” Doug, even himself. Being on TV was his oxygen, and he lived to work. Unfortunately he also lived to drink, and in the end that took his life.
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