ATLANTA — Dave Michaels, a longtime news anchor for 11Alive, CNN and other outlets died this month at 88 years old.
His wife, Ann, contacted 11Alive on Friday and said he had passed away on Feb. 1 – after a long illness of Alzheimer's and congestive heart failure. He was at home in hospice care at the time he died, she said.
Michaels anchored for WXIA from 1976-85. According to a broadcast tribute from his last day at 11Alive, his memorable moments at the station included anchoring live for 12 straight hours when a plane was hijacked at Atlanta's airport in 1977.
Dave Michaels through the years
Michaels was born Nov. 15, 1934, in Flushing, New York.
He spent several years at the start of his career in radio in New York - getting the news bug as a page at NBC. He first transitioned to TV news in the early 60s, coming to Atlanta to work for WAGA-TV.
His career included stops in the nation's biggest markets. Michaels left Atlanta in 1974 to anchor AM New York, the morning show for WABC in New York, and after that went to KABC in Los Angeles.
11Alive brought him back to Atlanta a few years later. Michaels left WXIA in mid-1985 for Headline News and joined CNN in 1989. His personal website described his most memorable moment in that stint interrupting an interview to broadcast the news that the Berlin Wall was coming down in 1989.
In 1995, he was inducted into the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Southeast Chapter Silver Circle. His career also included several acting credits.
He is survived by his wife Ann, son Michael and daughter Kathy.