60 Minutes Creator Don Hewitt, 86, Dies

'It was the right time' to replace Walter Cronkite: network

(AP) - Nearly six months after Walter Cronkite's death, his voice is leaving the CBS Evening News. His introduction of anchor Katie Couric has been replaced by a voiceover featuring actor Morgan Freeman. The legendary CBS News anchor recorded the introduction, played at the beginning of most newscasts, when Couric started at CBS in 2006. Cronkite's voice stayed on the air even after his death July 17. More»

He accepted scads of free Pan Am trips, says Brinkley book

(NEWSER) - It seems our apparently squeaky-clean fatherly news king Walter Cronkite was not above accepting major freebies from none other than Pan Am. That's the dirt from a new biography on Cronkite, that claims he cut a deal in the 1970s with the airline to fly him, his family and select friends to luxe vacation spots around the world completely free of charge. CBS News division president at the time Dick Salant was upset about the obvious conflict of interest for his star anchor, but he never took any action against Cronkite, writes Douglas Brinkley in his book Cronkite. More»

'60 Minutes' correspondent 'loved being Mike Wallace'

(NEWSER) - Appreciations are pouring in for legendary CBS news correspondent Mike Wallace, who died today at age 93 . Not only did he pioneer the modern news interview, he "loved being Mike Wallace"—but was haunted by his role in the accidental death of his teenage son Peter:

• In an interview, Wallace recalled taking Peter hiking near the Gulf of Corinth in 1962. Looking over a cliff, Wallace suddenly saw Peter lying dead below. "That’s when his eyes started to well a bit, which I’m counting as crying, because I know that Mike Wallace will be remembered mostly as the granite-nosed, zero-nonsense, “Give me a break!” tough guy, and by his signature emotion, outrage," writes Todd Richissin on MarionPatch .

'60 Minutes' veteran interviewed scads of luminaries over 65-year career

(NEWSER) - Veteran CBS news correspondent and 60 Minutes stalwart Mike Wallace died last night at the age of 93, reports CBS News . The self-described "nosy and insistent" reporter, who once asked Ayatollah Khamenei if he was crazy and called Martin Luther King Jr. his hero, had a broadcast career that spanned 65 years—not too bad for a guy born before the advent of radio, much less television. Highlights from a long and storied career:

• On finding his feet on Nightbeat in 1956: "We decided to ask the irreverent question, the abrasive question, the who-gives-a-damn question."
• Notable interviews: Malcolm X, Vladimir Putin, JFK, Lyndon Johnson, Ronald Reagan, Barbra Streisand, Janis Joplin, Roger Clemens, among scores of others.

60 Minutes commentator delivered final essay last month

(AP) - Andy Rooney, the curmudgeonly commentator who spent more than 30 years wryly talking about the oddities of life for 60 Minutes, died last night at age 92. Just a month ago, Rooney delivered his last regular essay on the CBS newsmagazine. The network said he died in New York from complications from a recent surgery. Rooney began his 60 Minutes commentaries in 1978 (see his first one in the gallery at left) and was still at it three decades later. (CBS has a best-of-collection on its site.) More»