Television broadcast journalist. A graduate of Stanford University and the University of Minnesota, he began his career in print journalism with the Minneapolis Times following military service in the Second World War. He joined the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) radio network in 1948, working for station WCCO in Minneapolis, Minnesota, before taking a job with the United States Information Agency in Southeast Asia. Following a return to the United States, he became news director of station KEYD-TV in Minneapolis. In 1958 he joined the parent company of CBS in New York City, where he co-hosted the show Calendar with actress Mary Fickett beginning in 1961, before working as a color commentator and news correspondent for the CBS Evening News, The CBS Morning News and CBS Reports. From 1968 to 1970 he served as the anchor of the popular news magazine 60 Minutes, before leaving the company to join the ABC Evening News with Howard K. Smith, replacing Frank Reynolds as co-anchor. In 1978 he returned to CBS and the 60 Minutes news magazine program where he remained until his retirement from CBS in 1991. He was the recipient of two national Emmy Awards, a George Foster Peabody Award in 1967, and numerous other awards from the Friars Club, the Overseas Press Club, the University of Missouri, and the University of Minnesota. He was the author of "Tell Me About Women" (1946), "The Reasoner Report" (1966), "The World Today" (1975), and "Before the Color Fades" in 1981. He died from complications suffered in a fall at his Westport, Connecticut, home at the age of 68.
Television broadcast journalist. A graduate of Stanford University and the University of Minnesota, he began his career in print journalism with the Minneapolis Times following military service in the Second World War. He joined the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) radio network in 1948, working for station WCCO in Minneapolis, Minnesota, before taking a job with the United States Information Agency in Southeast Asia. Following a return to the United States, he became news director of station KEYD-TV in Minneapolis. In 1958 he joined the parent company of CBS in New York City, where he co-hosted the show Calendar with actress Mary Fickett beginning in 1961, before working as a color commentator and news correspondent for the CBS Evening News, The CBS Morning News and CBS Reports. From 1968 to 1970 he served as the anchor of the popular news magazine 60 Minutes, before leaving the company to join the ABC Evening News with Howard K. Smith, replacing Frank Reynolds as co-anchor. In 1978 he returned to CBS and the 60 Minutes news magazine program where he remained until his retirement from CBS in 1991. He was the recipient of two national Emmy Awards, a George Foster Peabody Award in 1967, and numerous other awards from the Friars Club, the Overseas Press Club, the University of Missouri, and the University of Minnesota. He was the author of "Tell Me About Women" (1946), "The Reasoner Report" (1966), "The World Today" (1975), and "Before the Color Fades" in 1981. He died from complications suffered in a fall at his Westport, Connecticut, home at the age of 68.
Bio by: Nils M. Solsvik Jr.
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