Mario Machado

Mário Machado (born Mário José de Souza Machado; April 22, 1935 – May 4, 2013) was an American television and radio broadcaster and actor. He made television history when, in 1970, he became the first American of Chinese heritage to be an on-air television news reporter and anchor in Los Angeles and perhaps in the nation.

Early life Machado was born in Shanghai, China. His father, Carlos Jacinto de Lourdes Gouveia Furtado Machado, was a vice-chancellor of the Portuguese Consulate in Shanghai, and his mother, Chinese-Portuguese Maria Teresa de Sousa, was a homemaker.

After studying for two years at St. John's Military Academy in Los Angeles at the age of 11, Machado's education was obtained at the British Thomas Hanbury School, St. Francis Xavier College in Shanghai, and a business college in Hong Kong. He emigrated to Seattle in 1956, and became a US citizen in 1965.

Career Before entering the broadcasting field, Machado worked in management for IBM Corporation. He hosted the weekly soccer program, The Best of the World Cup for the Spanish International Network. Machado hosted Star Soccer from England on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) Public television stations for six years.

He served as Commissioner of the American Soccer League in 1981.

Between 1976 and 1984 he published Soccer Corner Magazine, for fellow enthusiasts of the sport..

When the English Premier League was formed in 1992, Machado was the narrator of the weekly Prem highlights program produced in England and syndicated nationally across the United States.

He was one of the founding members of AYSO with his friend Hans Stierle, and in 1971 he helped change AYSO policy to allow girls to play. In recognition for his contributions to the sport, Machado was inducted into the AYSO Hall of Fame in 1999.

Old China Hands As president of MJM Communications, Machado produced numerous special events including the Beverly Hills St. Patrick's Day Parades of 1985 and 1986, the Pet Parade, and the Festival of Nations for Los Angeles County's 150th anniversary, and in 1986, he produced the first official Spanish language coverage of the Rose Parade for Telemundo/KVEA.

An event that has produced results that are still ongoing is the Old China Hands Reunion of 1996. Between September 3 and 9 of that year 1,100 former residents of China from all corners of the world gathered at MGM Grand Las Vegas hotel in Las Vegas for a reunion that has been called by attendees the biggest and best Old China Hands Reunion. Robert Gohstand, a retired Geography professor at CSUN and Shanghai classmate of Machado, recognized the importance of saving these stories for posterity, and now heads the Old China Hands Archive at California State University, Northridge which was inaugurated in 2002.

Personal life Machado's marriage to Marie Christine D’Almada Remedios produced four children.

Machado died on May 4, 2013, at age 78, in West Hills, California. Served as Grand Marshal of numerous Los Angeles Chinatown's Chinese New Year Parades. Honored for his contributions by Chinese Historical Society 1999. John Anson Ford Humanitarian Award in 1994 Cited for advancing role of Latinos in media 1996 Humanitarian of the Year Award for more than 2,800 hours of service in 27 years. Carried the Olympic Flame through downtown Los Angeles prior to the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

Filmography