Authorities have identified the hiker who suffered a fatal medical emergency in Runyon Canyon as 78-year-old screenwriter William Hasley.
Hasley was a veteran television writer who taught screenwriting classes at UCLA Extension. He was also friends with Caitlyn Jenner and helped write the former athlete's motivational book “Finding the Champion Within,” according to his biography.
The Los Angeles County medical examiner revealed Hasley's identity on Tuesday but had not yet ruled on the cause of his death.
More than two dozen Los Angeles Fire Department personnel responded to a report of a hiker in serious medical condition on Nichols Canyon Road near Hollywood Boulevard shortly before 7 p.m. Saturday.
A helicopter was used to reach the patient and allow paramedics to provide urgent medical care. They could not save him and he was pronounced dead shortly after, according to the LAFD.
Hasley hailed from Pittsburgh and played college football before venturing to Hollywood to pursue his dreams as a writer. He wrote 37 episodes of “The Smurfs” in the late '80s and early '90s, as well as several episodes of “Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids,” according to IMDB. His television writing credits also include “Swift Justice,” “Ghost Stories,” “Murder, She Wrote,” “Young Riders” and “Highway to Heaven.”
He was able to channel his love of sports while working with NBC on the network's project “Star Salute to the US Olympic Team,” where he met Olympic gold medalist Caitlyn Jenner, according to his professional biography.
The pair became friends and Hasley helped write a book about Jenner's philosophy on overcoming adversity in sports and life. He was commissioned to write several other motivational books, including “Passion, Profit, & Power” for hypnotist Marshall Sylver and “The Slight Edge” for self-help expert Jeff Olson.
Hasley loved sharing her passion for writing with UCLA students and described the writing process as similar to putting together a puzzle, where you try many different combinations of pieces before finding the perfect fit, according to her teaching biography.
“I personally believe that when you know your characters well enough, they will begin to dictate their actions,” he wrote. “When that happens, writing becomes a euphoric experience.”
In addition to teaching and writing, he enjoyed playing golf, horseback riding, fighting City Hall over an environmental issue, volunteering at soup kitchens and speaking with youth organizations, according to his biography.
Hasley was previously married to actor Robin Riker, best known for his roles in “Brothers” and “The Bold and the Beautiful.”
He lived in the Hollywood Hills, not far from where he suffered the medical emergency. A neighbor told the New York Post that he had been seen early Saturday bringing groceries home. “It's very sad that he had to die like this alone,” the neighbor said.
Times staff writer Sonja Sharp contributed to this report.
