Remembering Journalism’s “Dave Of Love”

The story of Hollywood Dean of Labor Journalism David Robb, who inspired the new “David Robb Civil Justice Award,” given out recently by the LA Press Club

By Alex Ben Block

I had the honor recently of joining with Anita Busch to present the first annual David Robb Civil Justice Award. It was given out by the Los Angeles Press Club at the National Arts & Entertainment Journalist Awards to Rick Ellis of AllYourScreens.com, a journalist based in Minnesota for his article “Matthew Feeney Was Minnesota's 'Quiet On Set' Moment.”

The Press Club Judges’ wrote of the article: Rick Ellis takes a deep dive into records as he investigates the troubled past of a Minnesota casting agent for child actors who pled guilty to sexually abusing some of his clients. Ellis also warns that anyone In Minnesota can be a talent or casting agent without background checks or licensing in his compelling story that earns him the Robb Award.

You can read the article at https://bit.ly/3Nm30Vw.

Alex Ben Block and Anita Busch presenting the first Dave Robb Award

The LAPC created the honor in the name of David Robb – known to all as ‘Dave’ - to be given to a journalist who carries on his legacy of civil justice reporting and initiating positive change in the entertainment industry. Each year, the recipient receives an honorarium of $5,000 donated by his friend and colleague, Anita Busch (We three worked together at The Hollywood Reporter).

“He was an indefatigable investigative journalist and an important and consistent voice for those who truly needed representation,” said Busch. “His beats were unions and legal, but his stories encompassed a wide variety of subjects, including long hours for child actors, set safety issues, disability rights, the rights of below-the-line workers and unpaid interns, ageism, the lack of women and minorities in entertainment jobs, and even pedophiles who were discovered working with child actors.”

“He put a spotlight on problems within the industry which resulted in real change,” added Busch. “These stories were not always easy to get published, but he pushed to get it done, even negotiating word by word with the paper’s lawyers and editors in order to get them published. He was tenacious.”

Over four decades, “Dave” was the Dean of Hollywood labor reporters, and an unyielding advocate for the under-represented, disenfranchised and oppressed.

His cousin Kathy Crystal-Lopez attributed that to when Dave and his mother went back to Arkansas in his teens and boarded a bus. They sat in the back, but the bus driver told them to move to the front because the blacks were relegated to the back. Dave thought that was terribly unjust and that made a huge impression on him.

"David always stood up for the underdog, and he always told the truth,” said Crystal-Lopez. "I saw this in him as we grew up together (in Torrance, California). He always had a strong sense of justice."

Dave Robb during an appearance on CNN

Robb passed away last December at age 74, after a decade at Deadline Hollywood, the last of a series of Hollywood trades that included The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. He also wrote for The New York Times, Associated Press and others. He authored books including, The Gumshoe and the Shrink (about Nixon and Kennedy), Operation Hollywood, Sztetl, and The Stuntwoman, which is being made into a movie.

Dave was raised by one parent, his Mom, Gladys. When asked how he turned out so great without a guiding hand from a father, he would say, "It only takes one good parent."

Remembers his niece Isabella Matinovic: "Uncle David always believed the best in us and, as a result, brought out the best in us. He was always so kind, gentle, funny and he made time for us to share the wisdom he obtained in his life experience."

“He just didn't like to see people suffering,” said his widow Kelly Robb. “He was just a good hearted guy.”

“He was really a protective person and in general would not ignore any kind of cruelty whether it be someone being underpaid or harassment on the job,” added Kelly. “He just didn't like to see people suffering. He was just a good hearted guy. He was so good hearted and, and he sacrificed a lot of his time to make sure that he was right and it's was going to be exposed.”

A Southern California native, Robb worked at The Hollywood Reporter, Daily Variety and, for the last decade, at Deadline Hollywood. He also wrote for The New York Times, Associated Press, LA Weekly, Los Angeles Daily News, Spy magazine and The Nation. In addition to his journalistic work, he was also an author. His works include Operation Hollywood, The Stuntwoman, The Gumshoe and the Shrink, and Shtetl. The Stuntwoman, which chronicled the life of stuntwoman Julie Johnson, is being made into a movie by filmmaker Guy Nattiv (Golda)

Dave Robb in his younger days

After graduating from Torrance High School, Robb attended UCLA and then transferred to San Francisco State where he received his bachelor’s degree in creative writing in 1976. Two years later, he went to work as a copy boy for the San Francisco Examiner. In 1979, he returned to Los Angeles and landed a job as an editorial assistant at The Hollywood Reporter.

Before long, he was writing stories and covering the labor beat for THR. Over 45 years, Robb reported on Hollywood labor issues. He was considered an expert in the field and covered labor negotiations on fair wages, strikes and even corruption inside the unions. He also covered fraud against the unions, even if it meant exposing his own co-worker at The Hollywood Reporter.

He was an indefatigable investigative journalist and an important and consistent voice for those below-the-line.

His stories shined a light on problems within the industry which resulted in real change. His stories encompassed a vast array of subjects, including long hours for child actors and crew, disability rights, the rights of below-the-line workers including unpaid interns, ageism, the lack of women and minorities in entertainment jobs, and even pedophiles who were discovered working with child actors. He also covered many important Hollywood legal cases, including the Twilight Zone case where Vic Morrow and two small children were killed on set, Buchwald vs. Paramount Pictures and Jeff Katzenberg vs. Disney case.

He was considered an expert one of one of the darkest chapters in Hollywood history during the McCarthy era when writers were blacklisted as Communists or Communist sympathizers. His ongoing stories – be it on the front page of The New York Times or at the trades -- resulted in those writers (many of them who became friends of Robb’s) receiving their proper credit on their movies they had been denied in the 1950s.

He covered set safety and rallied for the rights of stunt women, and later began writing about the hypocrisy of the National Rifle Association at a time when children were being killed in mass shootings across the country.

During his career as a journalist, Robb was nominated for three Pulitzer Prizes, received a NAACP Image Award, and the First Americans in the Arts' Humanitarian Award for highlighting the concerns of Native artists and performers, and other awards.

When honored by the WGA for articles which restored the credits of blacklisted writers, he received an honorary plaque proclaiming he had “pricked the public conscience with his tales of the blacklist years and kept this issue alive.”

Robb made headlines himself a decade ago when he quit The Hollywood Reporter after the publisher refused to print his articles reported on his union beat about the trade paper’s own longtime, Hollywood columnist who was being investigated by the Screen Actors Guild for fraud. Busch then quit as Editor to voice her support for Dave.

“He was always on the side of the little guy, the oppressed and the under-served. He was the protector of the weak,” said one of Dave’s friends from the weekly poker game Dave ritually attended for over 40 years in the home of publicist John DeSimio. “He was a living, principled hero.”

For the game, Dave coined “Dave-isms” including calling the nine of hearts “The Dave of Love.” That term entered popular culture, noted DeSimio, when spoken by characters on both The West Wing and Sports Night.

For those who knew him well, he really was the Dave of Love.