THE LOSS OF A JOURNALISM LEGEND
By: Hope Wilkos, Writer/Blogger Photographer: George Whylie Videographer: Maxine NolanOn Saturday evening, May 7th, 2012, the world of television news and journalism lost a true legend.
Mike Wallace, synonymous with CBS ’60 Minutes’, died at the age of 93 surrounded by family at a care facility in New Canaan, Connecticut where he had been living in recent years following heart surgery.
So many of us grew up watching and admiring Wallace. He was a permanent fixture in the public eye for 60 years. His interview style was forceful and he never backed down. Wallace got to the core of every issue at hand and was never afraid to speak his mind.
Some of his most memorable interviews included Jose Canseco, Roger Clemens, John Ehrlichman, Barbara Streisand, George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Manuel Noriega, Jack Kevorkian, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, John F. Kennedy and even Mitt Romney in 2007. He reported at one point from Vietnam and even covered the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago.
Mike was never afraid to interrogate and drive a point home.
During his career, Mike Wallace earned 21 Emmy Awards, 5 DuPont-Columbia journalism and 5 Peabody Awards. In addition, he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame and was the author of several books.
In 1949, he appeared as Myron Wallace in a show called ‘Majority Rules’. In the early 50’s, Wallace was an announcer and game show host for programs like ‘What’s In a Word?’ and he acted in a 1954 Broadway play called ‘Reclining Figure’ directed by Abe Burrows. In the mid-50’s, he did ‘Night Beat’ where he interviewed Henry Kissinger and Frank Lloyd Wright. He had a variety of other entertainment jobs but became a full-time CBS newsman in 1963. In part, this was due to the tragic death of his son Peter in a hiking accident in Greece. This made him retrospect on his life and put him on a particular path. He was part of a spinoff of ’60 Minutes’ known as ’60 Minutes II’ in more recent years.
Many of his friends and comrades were deeply saddened by the news of Wallace’s death. During the Sunday, April 8th episode of ’60 Minutes’, Morley Safer called Wallace “a one-man truth squad with a remarkable gift for getting to the core of the story”.
There will be a ’60 Minutes’ special program dedicated especially to Mike Wallace on April 15th.
Wallace is survived by his wife, Mary; son Chris who hosts “Fox News Sunday”, one stepdaughter, two stepsons, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Mike Wallace had a brilliant and rewarding career filled with wonderful friends, family and fans and he will be very much missed.
PHOTOS CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES
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