Mike Wallace, the legendary newsman known for impertinent, hard-nosed interviews on CBS’ popular 60 Minutes television programme, has died at age 93, the network announced.
He interviewed Malcolm X shortly before his assassination, asked Ayatollah Khomeini if he was crazy and interviewed Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2006 at the end of a 37-year stint with 60 Minutes
Mr Wallace, whose 60-year career began in radio, spanning roles from wrestling announcer to quiz show host before making an indelible mark on US television journalism as an interviewer of the news makers.
From Malcolm X to Ayatollah Khomeini, Mr Wallace cut to the quick with tough, abrasive, who-gives-a-damn questions that proved ground-breaking in US television journalism.
He honed his cocky, pit bull persona in an interview show called Night Beat, from 1955-57, and then brought it to 60 Minutes when CBS launched that seminal television magazine show in 1968.
Mr Wallace, who retired in 2006 but continued to do the occasional headline grabbing interview until 2008, racked up at least 20 Emmy awards, along with every other major prize for TV journalism.
Some of his work, however, also came in for criticism.
He and CBS were sued for libel by General William Westmoreland, a Vietnam War commander, for a 1982 documentary The Uncounted Enemy: A Vietnam Deception. The suit was later dropped after CBS issued a statement saying it had not meant to question the general’s patriotism.
He also was accused of buckling to corporate pressure to kill a story about a tobacco company whistleblower, which later became the basis of the 1999 film The Insider with Christopher Plummer.
He later admitted to suffering periodic bouts of depression and a suicide attempt during the Westmoreland lawsuit.
Mr Wallace was remembered as an indefatigable journalist − active well into his 80s − who probed the lives of the world’s noted and notorious, fearlessly asking the impertinent question on everyone’s mind.
He interviewed Malcolm X shortly before his assassination, asked Ayatollah Khomeini if he was crazy and interviewed Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2006 at the end of a 37-year stint with 60 Minutes.
He had said that his favourite interview was with pianist Vladimir Horowitz, an encounter described as a duel between “sly, manic egos”.
“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,” said CBSNews chairman and 60 Minutes executive producer Jeff Fager in a statement.
CBS said Mr Wallace died on Thursday night at the Waveny Care Centre in New Caanan, Connecticut, surrounded by his family.
Mr Wallace retired from public life after undergoing a triple heart bypass operation in January 2008.