Do you have a favorite memory from the six-decade-long-career of Mike Wallace?

The '60 Minutes' interviewer influenced my career in communications. Wallace worked in radio, played on the Broadway stage, acted in films and talked to the most famous people in the world. Last Saturday, April 7, he died at 93.

Wallace became a character in movies based on actual events; in 'Frost/Nixon' he was played by Stephen Rowe and Christopher Plummer portrayed the journalist in 'The Insider' about corruption in the tobacco industry.

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Mike Wallace played himself, a tough TV reporter, in the 1957 movie 'A Face In The Crowd' starring Andy Griffith as Lonesome Rhodes.

He started in radio while attending the University of Michigan. His first radio job was in 1939 at WOOD radio in Grand Rapids, then at WXYZ in Detroit.

Like most TV announcers in the 1950's, he hosted game shows, such as 'What's in a Word?' and 'The Big Surprise,' and endorsed products like cigarettes and 'Fluffo' brand shortening.

Wallace was even in a Broadway play in 1954 called 'Reclining Figure.'

With such a diverse career, he will still be remembered most for his interviews. On 'Nightbeat' Wallace asked questions of an elderly Frank Lloyd Wright and a young Henry Kissinger.

Last Sunday, 'Face The Nation' aired a tribute to their fellow journalist that show how far the career of Mike Wallace reached. You can watch it here thanks to YouTube.

 

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