Guide Note

Mike Wallace is a television journalist and has been a correspondent for the CBS news show 60 Minutes since its premier in 1968. Wallace retired as a regular full time correspondent in 2006 but still appears frequently on the show.

Fast Facts

1. Born: May 9, 1918
2. Birthplace: Brookline, Massachusetts
3. Birth Name: Myron Leon Wallace
4. Alma Mater: University of Michigan
5. 1960s spokesperson for Parliament Cigarettes

Wallace attended the University of Michigan, graduating in 1939. While at Michigan he reported for the Michigan Daily. His first job in radio was as newscaster and continuity writer for WOOD Radio in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This job lasted until 1940 when he joined WXYZ Radio in Detroit, Michigan as an announcer. He went on to became a freelance radio worker in Chicago, Illinois. Wallace joined the U.S. Navy in 1943, serving as a communications officer during World War II. After the war, he returned to Chicago. In 1955, Wallace began anchoring nightly newscasts for the Dumont network's New York affiliate. In 1956 Wallace began to host the show that would bring him into prominence. Night-Beat was a live, late-night hour of interviews in which Wallace grilled a pair of celebrity guests every week night. After several brushes with libel suits, ABC executives became wary of the program and it was canceled in 1958. Wallace continued to lend his voice to commercials and news programs and in 1968 he began his tenure at 60 Minutes - a job he would stay at for more than 37 years.