Hollywood Reporter veteran Steve Brennan dies

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Steve Brennan, a 20-year veteran reporter and editor at The Hollywood Reporter, died Thursday at Cedars-Sinai Hospital Medical Center in Los Angeles after a yearlong battle with cancer. He was 57.

Brennan was well-known in the entertainment industry as a tenacious and fair-minded reporter who tirelessly covered the entertainment industry, with a particular focus on the domestic TV syndication and the international beats for the paper.

"Steve often dazzled with his colorful style, but his insights were even brighter, and uncannily spot-on," Hollywood Reporter editor in chief Elizabeth Guider said. "He was one of a rapidly disappearing breed of old-school newsmen who had an unshakable work ethic, a global rolodex and a wonderfully wry but affectionate view of the business of entertainment and the people engaged in it."

Brennan, who was Irish, began his career at Independent Newspapers in Dublin, where he received a National Press Award for his investigative reporting. He covered various beats, including the unrest in Northern Ireland.

Later he specialized in the entertainment business and, while still writing for Independent Newspapers, consulted with the Irish government and Irish film studios about the global film and television industries. Brennan also acted as The Hollywood Reporter's Ireland correspondent before moving to Los Angeles in 1989 and joining the THR staff.

Two years ago, Brennan published "Emeralds in Tinseltown: The Irish in Hollywood" together with his wife, Bernadette O'Neill. The book chronicled the parade of Irish screen legends who charmed and battled their way through a century of Hollywood history, from James Cagney and Greer Garson to Colin Farrell and Liam Neeson.

Funeral and memorial services are pending.

(Editing by Dean Goodman at Reuters)