Local TV News Legend Marvin Zindler Succumbs To Pancreatic Cancer

Houston television news legend Marvin Zindler died Sunday from complications of pancreatic cancer. He was 85.

Zindler began he news career when he was 51.

Zindler began at KTRK on Jan. 1, 1973, soon after being fired from the Harris County Sheriff's Department.

He wasted little time before making his mark by railing against "a bawdy house" near La Grange, Texas, that July.

A Playboy Magazine story followed. Then "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" became a Broadway smash (later a movie) and propelled Zindler to national fame.

Locally, Zindler became best known for his Friday "rat and roach report," fingering eateries cited by the city for health violations.

His power as a ratings draw earned him a reported seven-figure salary in 1984 and a lifetime contract in 1988.

Zindler announced his illness in a report for KTRK from his hospital room earlier in July and recounted his various surgeries, including two open heart surgeries and various cosmetic surgeries.

Marvin Zindler was born on August 10, 1921 in Houston. He attended public schools and went to John Tarleton Agricultural College in Stephenville, Texas. He joined the Marines in 1941 and received an Honorable Discharge. That same year, Marvin married Gertrude, his wife of 56 years, and they raised five children before she passed away in 1997.

Zindler is survived by his wife Niki, five children, nine grand children and a great-grand child.

Funeral arrangements are pending.