Mike Wallace
5/9/1918 -
Broadcast Journalist
Mike Wallace (born Myron Leon Wallace) is an American journalist who has been a correspondent for CBS's 60 Minutes since its debut in 1968. He retired as a regular correspondent in 2006 at age 88.
Mike Wallace, whose family's surname was originally "Wallick", was born in the Boston suburb of Brookline, Massachusetts to Russian-Jewish parents. He went on to the University of Michigan, graduating in 1939 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. His first job in radio was as newscaster and continuity writer for WOOD Radio in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Wallace joined the U.S. Navy in 1943, serving as a communications officer during World War II. After the war, he returned to Chicago.
Early in his career, Wallace announced for the radio action shows Ned Jordan, Secret Agent, and The Green Hornet. By the late 1940s Wallace was a staff announcer for the CBS radio network. He had a rare chance to display his comic side when he appeared opposite zany bandleader Spike Jones in dialogue routines.
During the 1950s, Wallace hosted a number of game shows, such as The Big Surprise, Who's the Boss? and Who Pays?. It was not uncommon during that period for journalists to also host game shows; Douglas Edwards, John Daly, John Cameron Swayze, and Walter Cronkite hosted game shows as well. Wallace also hosted the pilot episode for Nothing but the Truth, which was helmed by Bud Collyer when it aired under the title, To Tell the Truth. Wallace occasionally served as a panelist on To Tell the Truth in the 1950s. He also did commercials for a variety of products, including Fluffo (brand) shortening. During that period, Wallace also hosted two late-night interview programs, Night Beat (broadcast in New York only on WABD) and The Mike Wallace Interview on ABC. His interviews were so hard-hitting (uncommon for television at the time) that his nickname became "Mike Malice".
By the early 1960s, Wallace's primary income stream came from commercials for Parliament cigarettes. After his elder son's death, however, Wallace decided to get back into news, and was offered the opportunity to host an early version of The CBS Morning News, which he handled from 1963 to 1966.
On March 14, 2006, Wallace announced his retirement from 60 Minutes after 37 years with the program. He will continue working for CBS News as a "Correspondent Emeritus".
Wallace has been married four times and has two sons and a daughter. His oldest son, Peter, died in a mountain climbing accident in 1962. His other son, Chris Wallace, works as a moderator of Fox News Sunday. He has four grandchildren and recently became a great-grandfather.
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