Sid Yudain | Roll Call founder, 90

Sid Yudain, 90, a former Hollywood reporter who brought the same company-town approach to Washington journalism when he launched the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call in 1955, died Sunday at his home in Arlington, Va., from metastatic liver cancer, said his wife, Lael Yudain, said.

After working in Hollywood, Yudain arrived in Washington in 1951 to work as press secretary for Rep. Albert Morano (R., Conn.). With an initial investment of $90, Mr. Yudain published Roll Call from Morano's office for three years before he could afford office space and move out on his own.

In 1986, Mr. Yudain sold Roll Call to a media group that publishes the Economist magazine. The newspaper now offers more incisive coverage of Congress, politics, and legislative dealmaking than it did in its early days. Its alumni include Nina Totenberg of NPR; Ed Henry of Fox News; Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post; and Jim VandeHei, a former Washington Post reporter and a founder of Politico. - Washington Post