Press & broadcasting
Mike Wallace
1918–2012 · broadcast journalist, 60 Minutes correspondent
Legendary 60 Minutes interviewer who, fresh out of the University of Michigan, worked as an announcer at Detroit's WXYZ radio in 1940.
- Born
Brookline, Massachusetts- Died
New Canaan, Connecticut
aged 93- Birth name
- Myron Leon Wallace
- Detroit years
- 1940–1941
- Field
- Press & broadcasting
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Wallace grew up near Boston and studied at the University of Michigan, where he reported for The Michigan Daily. After a first job at WOOD in Grand Rapids, he moved in 1940 to WXYZ in Detroit as an announcer, joining the station that was then producing The Lone Ranger and The Green Hornet for national networks from its studios in the Maccabees Building; he later listed The Green Hornet among the shows he announced, though he said he never announced The Lone Ranger. Within a year he left for freelance radio work in Chicago, and after Navy service in World War II built a career that led to CBS and, from 1968, to 60 Minutes, where his relentless interviews made him one of the most famous journalists in American television.
Highlights
- Announcer at WXYZ radio in Detroit, 1940
- Original correspondent of CBS's 60 Minutes (1968–2006)
- University of Michigan graduate (1939)
- Announced radio shows including The Green Hornet
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1940
Maccabees Building (former WXYZ studios)
WXYZ's home until 1959, where he worked as an announcer; now owned by Wayne State University.