By Wonderwall.com Editors
4:00pm PDT, Mar 20, 2022
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What sounds like a ticking stopwatch and has won more Emmy Awards than any other primetime TV show? "60 Minutes," which premiered on CBS on Sept. 24, 1968, and has gone on to become the most watched and most profitable program in television history. The news magazine show is hosted by top-notch journalists (like this crew from the mid-1980s, clockwise from left: Diane Sawyer, Ed Bradley, Mike Wallace, Harry Reasoner and Morley Safer), none of whom share screen time with each other, and features in-depth pieces on everything from international conflicts to movie stars. The transition between segments is signaled, of course, by that ticking stopwatch. Join Wonderwall.com as we take a look back at all of the program's past hosts, plus noteworthy correspondents and commentators, through the years.
Keep reading to relive more than 50 years of "60 Minutes" magic with Connie Chung, Christiane Amanpour, Andy Rooney and many more…
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When "60 Minutes" debuted in 1968, Mike Wallace was one of the new program's two co-hosts. Known for his tenacious, sometimes controversial interview style — and his commanding voice and perfect diction — he helmed the program for nearly 40 years, interviewing everyone from Vladimir Putin and Louis Farrakhan to Barbra Streisand and Johnny Carson, and winning 21 Emmys and countless other accolades along the way.
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After his retirement from "60 Minutes" in 2006, Mike Wallace was made a correspondent emeritus of the program — after which he interviewed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (and won his 21st Emmy Award for it) and his final subject, disgraced MLB pitcher Roger Clemens. Married four times, Mike was father to broadcast journalist Chris Wallace (his firstborn son, Peter, died in 1962 at 19 in a mountain-climbing accident in Greece). The broadcaster suffered from depression but kept it under wraps until 1988, when he revealed his struggles on "Later with Bob Costas." "I wanted whoever might be listening and suffering to understand how low I'd sunk and how I was getting better every day with treatment," he recalled in a January 2002 essay on his depression journey. "Help was out there for them too." The celebrated newsman died on April 7, 2012, at 93.
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Dan Rather has been a familiar face delivering the news to Americans since he joined CBS in 1962. He was on the "60 Minutes" team for its debut and worked as a correspondent or anchor for the network until 2006 covering nearly every major news story along the way, from President John F. Kennedy's assassination and the Watergate scandal to the Challenger space shuttle disaster and the Iran-Contra affair. The celebrated journalist became a headline himself in 1986 when he was attacked while walking on New York City's Park Avenue by a stranger who kept asking, "Kenneth, what is the frequency?" The strange question became part of the cultural vernacular and the title of a 1994 R.E.M. song.
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Dan Rather left CBS in 2006, but the Emmy-winning icon didn't slow down. He hosted the investigative news show "Dan Rather Reports" from 2006 to 2013, published his autobiography, "Rather Outspoken: My Life in the News," in 2012, and has hosted and produced several series for the cable channel AXS TV including "The Big Interview with Dan Rather," which features his long-form interviews with music and entertainment figures like Quentin Tarantino and Simon Cowell. The Texas native, who began hosting a newscast on YouTube called "The News with Dan Rather" in January 2018, also appears frequently as a commentator on "The Rachel Maddow Show" and other news programs. Married to Jean Goebel since 1957, Dan has two children: son Dan, a prosecutor, and daughter Robin, an environmentalist and activist.
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Christiane Amanpour built a reputation as a brave and brilliant foreign correspondent after joining CNN in 1983, covering multiple global conflicts and the fall of European communism before becoming a special contributor to "60 Minutes" in 1996. She was elevated to host in 2000.
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Five years after leaving CBS's "60 Minutes" in 2005, Christiane Amanpour joined ABC. The following year, ABC and CNN announced that as part of a "unique arrangement," she would be reporting for both networks. So, while acting as global affairs anchor at ABC, Christiane went on to become CNN's chief international anchor and host of the nightly interview program "Amanpour." From 1998 to 2018, she was married to former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Rubin; their son Darius was born in 2000. In June 2021, the London-based journalist announced that she'd been diagnosed with ovarian cancer and had undergone "major successful surgery to remove it."
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Two years after Ed Bradley became the first Black White House TV correspondent in 1974, he began his 30-year tenure on "60 Minutes." He would go on to do more than 500 stories for the program, covering nearly every type of news — from hard-hitting segments on war, poverty and corruption to interviews with newsmakers like Mick Jagger, Laurence Olivier, Michael Jordan, Bob Dylan and many more. Known for his smooth and laid-back style (earning him the nickname "Easy Ed"), he was involved in some of "60 Minutes"' most quirky moments, like playing blackjack with the blind Ray Charles and interviewing a Soviet general in a Russian sauna, while racking up 19 Emmys.
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Ed Bradley, who made waves in broadcast journalism when he started sporting his signature gold earring on air starting in 1986, worked right up until 2006 — the year he died of complications from leukemia at 65. Ed — pictured with singer Alicia Keys at the 2003 Grammy Awards — was married to Haiti-born artist Patricia Blanchet, whom he'd met at New York's Museum for African Art, where she was the director of development. He was known for a deep love of music, particularly jazz, and hosted the Peabody Award–winning "Jazz at Lincoln Center" program on National Public Radio for more than a decade until just before his death.
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Diane Sawyer became the first female correspondent on "60 Minutes" in 1984 after rising through the ranks of President Richard Nixon's White House staff and later helping him with his post-presidency memoirs. She became known for her incisive interviews with public figures like heiress and designer Gloria Vanderbilt, pictured here with the journalist filming a "60 Minutes" segment in New York City in March 1985.
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Diane Sawyer left "60 Minutes" in 1989 to become co-anchor of ABC's "Primetime Live" with Sam Donaldson. In 1999, she joined "Good Morning America" and remained co-host of the morning show with Charles Gibson for nearly 11 years. She went on to become anchor of "ABC World News" in 2009, but after five years, she left the anchor chair to focus on creating specials and conduct high-profile interviews as an ABC News special correspondent. Diane was married to film director Mike Nichols from 1988 until his death in 2014 at 83; they had no children together (he had two daughters and a son from previous marriages). In 2021, she faced intense backlash when her 2003 interview with Britney Spears resurfaced, showing Diane pressing the young pop star on topics including whether she was to blame for her breakup with Justin Timberlake. In December 2021, Britney tore into the broadcaster in a since-deleted Instagram post. "Do we dare forget the Diane Sawyer interview in my apartment almost 20 years ago?" she wrote. "What was with the 'You're in the wrong' approach?? Geeze… and making me cry??? I was a baby."
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Who's that girl? Meredith Vieira — pictured with fellow hosts (from left) Steve Kroft, Harry Reasoner, Mike Wallace, Ed Bradley and Morley Safer in 1988 — joined "60 Minutes" in 1989, seven years after starting at CBS as a reporter in the network's Chicago bureau. Meredith aired her first solo story, a report about exotic wild animals, in 1990.
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Meredith Vieira left CBS for ABC in the mid-'90s and went on to become one of the original moderators on the network's "The View" in 1997 and the original host of the syndicated daytime version of the game show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" in 2002. Meredith also co-anchored NBC's "Today" show from 2006 to 2011 and hosted her own daytime talk show, "The Meredith Vieira Show," from 2014 to 2016. The Emmy-winning journalist currently hosts the game show "25 Words or Less" and continues to contribute to news programs including "Dateline NBC" and the "NBC Nightly News." Meredith has three children her husband, journalist Richard Cohen, who has multiple sclerosis and has battled colon cancer.
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When "60 Minutes" debuted, Harry Reasoner was co-host alongside Mike Wallace. While Harry (seen here on the far left with Mike Wallace and the show's producer and creator Don Hewitt in September 1968) was known for his wry wit and Midwestern charm, which complemented Mike's more aggressive and feisty East Coast style, he may be most remembered for delivering the show's very first introduction: "Good evening. This is '60 Minutes.' It's a kind of a magazine for television, which means it has the flexibility and diversity of a magazine adapted to broadcast journalism."
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Harry Reasoner left "60 Minutes" after two years when he was lured away to host the "ABC Evening News." He returned to "60 Minutes" in 1978 and stayed until his retirement in May 1991. The easygoing journalist's wife of 35 years, Kathleen, with whom he had seven children, died in 1986. Two years later, he wed insurance executive Lois Weber. Three months after leaving "60 Minutes," Harry (pictured with actress Angie Dickinson at a New Year's Eve party in New York City in 1985) died at 68 from a brain injury after a fall at his Connecticut home.
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Connie Chung started as a correspondent and anchor at CBS in the '70s and, after a stint at NBC, returned to CBS in 1989 to host her own Saturday night news program, "Face to Face with Connie Chung." In the mid-'80s, she also worked as a "60 Minutes" correspondent.
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In 1993, Connie Chung ended her stint at "60 Minutes" and became only the second woman to co-anchor a network newscast as part of the "CBS Evening News." She left CBS in 1995 for ABC, where she co-hosted "20/20" before jumping to CNN and hosting her own short-lived show, "Connie Chung Tonight." Connie and her husband, talk show host Maury Povich, married in 1984 and have a son, Matthew, whom they adopted in 1995.
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Lara Logan joined CBS in 2002 as a war correspondent and became a "60 Minutes" contributor three years later. Known for her coverage from the front lines of dangerous international conflicts, the journalist became the news story in 2011 when she was beaten and sexually assaulted while covering the Egyptian revolution. "60 Minutes" broadcast an interview with her in May 2011 in which the South Africa native said she was speaking out about her experience because of the prevalence of mass sexual assault in Egypt.
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Lara Logan left CBS in August 2018 and the next year was hired by conservative media company Sinclair Broadcast Group. In January 2020, she joined Fox Nation, a subscription streaming service run by Fox News, and has since made headlines for sharing conspiracy theories about COVID-19 and for her controversial comments comparing Dr. Anthony Fauci to the infamous Nazi doctor Josef Mengele. A marriage to basketball player Jason Siemon ended in divorce, and in 2008, she wed Joseph Burkett, a U.S. government defense contractor from Texas with whom she has two children.
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Morley Safer joined the "60 Minutes" team in 1970 after its second year on television. He ended up becoming the longest serving reporter in the news magazine's history, covering both hard news and softer stories with his signature fairness and kindness during his 48-year stint.
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During his 60-year career, Morley Safer received numerous awards including 12 Emmys and a Lifetime Achievement Emmy he was given at just 35. Morley married anthropology student Jane Fearer in 1968 in London, where he was bureau chief for CBS News. They had one child, Sarah, who's a freelance journalist. After Morley died on May 19, 2016, at 84 — just eight days after retiring from "60 Minutes" — executive producer Jeff Fager called him "one of the most significant figures in CBS News history, on our broadcast and in many of our lives. Morley's curiosity, his sense of adventure and his superb writing all made for exceptional work done by a remarkable man."
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Paula Zahn joined the "60 Minutes" team in 1990 after working as a TV reporter in local markets around the country and spending several years anchoring ABC's weekend program "The Health Show" and the early morning broadcast "World News This Morning."
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Paula Zahn left CBS in 1999 for the increasingly popular world of cable news, first serving as an anchor on Fox News and later on CNN. Her Investigation Discovery show, "On the Case with Paula Zahn," premiered in 2009 and is still going strong. Paula has three children with Richard Cohen, a New York City real estate developer she divorced in 2007 after 20 years of marriage.
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Renowned broadcaster Walter Cronkite earned the nickname "the most trusted man in America" for his reporting on some of the most historic events in the world between 1937 and 1981 including World War II, the Vietnam War, Watergate and the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lennon. He became a part-time "60 Minutes" correspondent in 1968 and while his main responsibility was anchoring the "CBS Evening News," he was crucial in bringing credibility to "60 Minutes" in its early years. And that's, to quote his famous catchphrase, the way it is.
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After he retired in 1981, Walter Cronkite continued to contribute to the national conversation, appearing occasionally as a special correspondent for CBS, NPR and CNN, anchoring coverage of John Glenn's second space flight in 1998 (as he had the astronaut's first in 1962) and hosting the annual Kennedy Center Honors for many years. The music lover — seen here at the opening gala for the Metropolitan Opera's 2007-2008 season in New York City in September 2007 — had three children with wife Betsy, who died in 2005 after 65 years of marriage. The broadcasting legend died on July 17, 2009, at 92 at his home in New York City.
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Bob Simon covered conflict and crisis in 67 countries during his lengthy career including the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam and the 1989 student protests in China's Tiananmen Square. During the Persian Gulf War in 1991, he and four of his TV crew were captured and imprisoned by Iraq for 40 days. He later published a book, "Forty Days," about the experience. The New York City native joined "60 Minutes" in 1996.
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Bob Simon racked up 27 Emmys during his epic 47-year career. He was still a prolific host and correspondent for "60 Minutes" when he was killed in 2015 after his hired car crashed in New York City. He left behind wife Francoise and their daughter, Tanya, an executive producer at "60 Minutes" who's worked at the news magazine for more than two decades. "He didn't just witness history, he strived to understand it," Dan Rather said after his colleague's untimely death. "There was no issue he couldn't cover, no story he couldn't tell."
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"All this, and Andy Rooney, tonight on '60 Minutes.'" That phrase helped kick off the news magazine's weekly broadcast for more than three decades. The affable but cranky commentator joined the program in 1978 and was a fixture until 2011. He was known for his strong opinions on everything from religion and politics to nutritional labels and random objects lying on his desk.
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Andy Rooney's final regular appearance on "60 Minutes" aired on Oct 2., 2011, after 33 years — and 1,097 commentaries — on the show. He died a month later at 92. He and his wife of 62 years, Margie — who died from heart failure in 2004 — had four children: Ellen, Brian, Martha and Emily, several of whom followed their dad into broadcast journalism.
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TV and radio commentator Charles Osgood — seen here fiddling with his signature bow tie in February 1989 — was a commentator on "60 Minutes" from 1981 to 1994. During that time he was also handling anchor duties at the "CBS Sunday Night News" and then at the "CBS Morning News" and the "CBS Evening News with Dan Rather."
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After "60 Minutes," Charles Osgood landed the gig he's best known for — host of "CBS News Sunday Morning" — where he remained from 1994 to 2016. He also hosted "The Osgood File," a series of daily radio commentaries, from 1971 until December 2017, when he announced he was retiring from broadcasting. Along the way, Charles published a memoir in 2004 and voiced the narrator in the animated Dr. Seuss film "Horton Hears a Who!" in 2008. He and wife Jeanne have five children.
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Charles Kuralt was a correspondent for "60 Minutes" from its early years until 1979, but he's best known for his regular segment on "The CBS Evening News" with Walter Cronkite. Titled "On the Road," it featured the affable journalist traversing America's back roads in an RV looking for real stories from real Americans. What began as a three-month experiment became a 25-year fixture on the network.
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Charles Kuralt, who racked up 10 Emmys during his 40-year career, stunned colleagues and friends when he retired from CBS News at 60. Two years later in 1997, he died of complications from the autoimmune disease lupus at 62. By request in his will, the twice-married father of two is buried on the grounds of his alma mater, the University of North Carolina, next to his second wife, Petie, who died in 1999.
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Bob Schieffer was hired at CBS News in 1969 and joined both the anchor desk of the "CBS Sunday Night News" and the correspondent team of "60 Minutes." He remained at the news magazine for 23 years while building an impressive roster of other roles at the network including as chief Washington correspondent from 1982 to 2015 and moderator of "Face the Nation" from 1991 to 2015. The genial journalist was based in Washington, D.C., for nearly his entire career and interviewed every U.S. president since Richard Nixon.
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Bob Schieffer retired from "Face the Nation," and journalism, in 2015 after an astounding 52 years in the business. He has continued to work as a CBS contributor for major events including the 2016 presidential election. "The interesting thing about my life — a lot of the recognition I got was after most people retired," he reflected in a New York Times interview, adding, "I think that people just became familiar with me just because I had been there and others had come and gone." Bob, who's won eight Emmys and nearly every other award in broadcast journalism, has written three books about his career plus the memoir "This Just In." He and wife Patricia Penrose, married since 1967, have two daughters and three granddaughters.
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Steve Kroft worked for CBS in New York City, Miami and then London before the network brought him back to the United States to work on the fledgling news program "West 57th." When it was canceled in 1989, Steve joined "60 Minutes." He became the first American journalist to be granted extensive access to the contaminated grounds of the Chernobyl nuclear facility and his story won an Emmy. His other exclusives include a Peabody Award-winning story about a friendly fire incident during the Gulf War and Barack Obama's last interview as president.
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Steve Kroft announced his retirement from "60 Minutes" in May 2019 after 30 years hosting the program. In 2015, after a tabloid exposed his affair with a younger New York lawyer, the veteran broadcaster issued a public apology, calling it "a serious lapse of personal judgment." He said he and his wife, journalist and bestselling author Jennet Conant, were "committed to each other and are working hard to get past this." The pair have one son, actor John Kroft.
