Mike Wallace, '60 Minutes' Newsman, Dies at 93
Iconic CBS newsman Mike Wallace passed away on Saturday evening in a care center in New Canaan, Conn., at the age of 93.
Wallace was one of the original correspondents for CBS' widely acclaimed "60 Minutes" program and was famous for his pit-bull reporting style which drew questions and answers on some of the most timely and controversial subjects of the day.
"He loves it. He loves that part of Mike Wallace. He loved being Mike Wallace. He loved the fact that if he showed up for an interview, it made people nervous," CBS News chairman Jeff Farger told The Associated Press.
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"He knew, and he knew that everybody else knew, that he was going to get the truth. And that's what motivated him," Fager added.
"Mike Wallace will go down in history as the finest investigative interviewer on the most popular and most honored network television news program in U.S. history," former "60 Minutes" producer Charles Lewis wrote on Sunday.
CBS announced the news of Wallace's passing with a statement saying "all of us at CBS News and particularly at '60 Minutes' owe so much to Mike."
"Without him and his iconic style, there probably wouldn't be a '60 Minutes.' There simply hasn't been another broadcast journalist with that much talent. It almost didn't matter what stories he was covering, you just wanted to hear what he would ask next."
Wallace's notable career spanned over 60 years and he won much recognition and praise for his journalistic skills. Throughout his career he won 20 Emmy Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Emmy he took home in 2003.
Wallace was born in Massachusetts to Russian Jewish immigrant parents in 1918. He retired in 2006 but occasionally returned to CBS to appear on "60 Minutes."
A special program dedicated to the iconic investigative journalist will air on CBS on April 15.
