orig. Myron Leon Wallace
born May 9, 1918, Brookline, Mass., U.S.
U.S. television interviewer and reporter.
After graduating from the University of Michigan (1939), he worked as an announcer and newscaster on radio, delving into various programs, including talk shows, quiz shows, serials, and the news. He served as a naval communications officer during World War II and was subsequently hired as a radio reporter in Chicago. He began to work on television in the 1950s, hosting several television quiz shows. He joined CBS as a reporter in 1963 and was coeditor of the long-running 60 Minutes from its first program in 1968. Noted for his aggressive, bruising style (which led some of his guests to experience "Mike fright"), he traveled the world interviewing some of the most famous and powerful figures, and he won numerous Emmy Awards.