Marvin Zindler succumbs to cancer at 85

A veritable Houston legend and one of our favorite local celebrities, KTRK's muckraking Marvin Zindler died today at 85 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He announced on air earlier this summer that he was suffering from cancer, but, characteristically, he didn't let it slow him down. In his last days, Zindler was still hard at work, filing reports and doing newscasts from his hospital bed.

It's hard to say what exactly Zindler is "best-known" for. Younger viewers will remember his enthusiastic rat-and-roach reports and his "Sliiiiime in the ice machine" tagline. Many Houstonians will remember how Marvin pioneered consumer advocacy and helped them fight battles against inefficient bureaucracies and unfair businesses. KTRK said that he received nearly 100,000 appeals for help each year. He was the founder of Marvin's Angels, a group of doctors who donated their services because Zindler asked them to. Many people, in Houston and elsewhere, know Marvin Zindler as the journalist immortalized by Dom DeLuise in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas for busting the Chicken Ranch brothel in La Grange. Besides his work, Marvin was notorious for his flamboyant style, wigs, and frequent cosmetic surgeries.

Zindler signed a lifetime contract with KTRK in 1988 and reportedly earned $1 million each year - probably one of the only people in TV news that was worth that much. KTRK colleague Dave Ward has written his thoughts on Marvin's passing here. If you want to leave your condolences for Marvin's family and friends, go here.