Dave Robb, veteran Hollywood labor reporter, dies at 74

Dave Robb, who spent more than four decades in the Hollywood workforce during The Hollywood Reporter, Variety and, more recently, Deadline, has died. She was 74 years old.

Robb died peacefully Friday night at his Los Angeles home after being diagnosed with inoperable brain stem cancer in late October. Deadline reported. (Deadlineas THR and Varietyare owned by Penske Media Group).

He spent most of his senior year covering the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.

Robb, a tenacious investigative journalist in his time, started in THR as editorial assistant in 1979, the first of his five stints at the newspaper. He left in 2001 when editor Robert J. Dowling decided not to publish his story about allegations of unethical behavior by a veteran. THR party columnist George Christy. Christy was eventually suspended and then resigned.

I work in Variety for about a decade starting in 1982.

Robb was first on the scene in 2002, when Los Angeles Times reporter (and former THR editor) Anita M. Busch, her good friend, discovered a dead fish with a rose in its mouth on the windshield of her car and a sign next to it that contained one word: “Stop.” She saw that as a message for her to stop writing stories about clients represented by famed private investigator Anthony Pellicano.

He also wrote books, including the 2004 one. Operation Hollywood: How the Pentagon Shapes and Censors Movies and 2012 The Specialist: The True Story of a Hollywood Heroine about Julie Ann Johnson. She wrote articles for The New York Times — one even helped blacklisted screenwriter Michael Wilson get the credit he deserved Lawrence of Arabia — Associated Press, LA Weekly and more.

Born on May 12, 1949, Robb was the son and grandson of union members and was himself a member of five unions, according to Deadline. For years he participated in a weekly Friday night poker game featuring John De Simio of Castle Rock and AP sportswriter John Nadel.

He is survived by his wife, Kelly.