Mario Machado

Biography

Mario Machado has been a fixture of television, film, and radio for over thirty years, and as a news anchor, reporter, narrator, actor, commentator, and producer, he has worked in virtually all aspects of broadcasting. Born in Shanghai, China of both Chinese and Portuguese ancestry, Mario made television history when, in 1967, he became the first Chinese-American on-air television news reporter and anchor in Los Angeles and perhaps in the nation. In 1968 he signed on as a color commentator for CBS Sports and, as a soccer player himself, he revolutionized the world of sports commentating with his personal insight and his dramatic flair. One year later he made television history again when he became the first Consumer Affairs reporter in the nation for KNXT Los Angeles. His work as a producer and a reporter has earned him ten Emmy Award nominations and eight wins, most recently for his work on the television special "U.S. Citizenship: A Dream Come True", which was broadcast in over 120 countries. Not content to be limited to the newsroom, Mario has hosted daily talk radio shows on several Los Angeles stations, lent his voice as narrator to numerous documentaries, and hosted several television shows, including the award-winning medical investigation show Medix (1967) and the variety show Saturday Showcase (1998) Ever an avid soccer fan, he has been a commentator for the 1984 Olympics and several World Cups. As an actor, he has appeared in films directed by Carl Reiner, Joel Schumacher, Brian De Palma, and Sylvester Stallone, but he may be best known for his role as newsman Casey Wong in all three RoboCop films. In addition, he has been featured on a diverse number of top-rated television shows, including Mission: Impossible (1966), The Brady Bunch (1969), Murder, She Wrote (1984), and Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990)_. A tireless advocate of multiculturalism in both his professional and personal life, Mario's efforts have won him the John Anson Ford Humanitarian Award in 1994 and he was named Los Angeles County's Humanitarian of the Year in 1995. One of the recognitions that he is proudest of is being named a member of President Reagan's Child Safety Commission in 1986.