'60 Minutes' Man

CBS newsman Mike Wallace, shown in a 2001 photo, said Tuesday, March 14, 2006, that he will stop being a regular correspondent for "60 Minutes." Wallace, 87, the hard-driving reporter often seen as the symbol of the show, was careful not to say he's fully retiring and CBS News President Sean McManus referred to him as a "correspondent emeritus."

Saying that as his 88th birthday approaches, the prospect of traveling around the world to pursue stories is not as appealing as it used to be, Mike Wallace announced his retirement from CBS' "60 Minutes" on Tuesday, March 14, 2006. Wallace, who has been with the program since its inception in 1968, will remain with CBS News as Correspondent Emeritus.

CBS News' Mike Wallace and his wife, Mary, are shown June 7, 2004 in New York. On March 14, 2006, Wallace announced he will no longer be a regular correspondent for "60 Minutes." Wallace has said for years that he was cutting back on stories, but his competitive instincts made it difficult for him to follow through.

In a statement released March 14, 2006, Mike Wallace said, "... CBS is not pushing me. I'll be in a comfortable office on the same floor -- just around the corner from where I've holed up for the past 43 years -- available, when asked, for whatever chore CBS News, 60 Minutes, the CBS Evening News have in mind for me. Plus longer vacations, of course."

Mike Wallace's experience as a newsman dates back to the 1940s, when he was a radio newswriter and broadcaster for the Chicago Sun. After serving as a naval communications officer during World War II, he became a news reporter for radio station WMAQ in Chicago. He joined CBS in 1951, left the network in 1955 and returned in 1963, when he was named a CBS News correspondent.

Former New York Mayor David Dinkins, left, and CBS' "60 Minutes" co-editor Mike Wallace watch the match between Serena Williams and Catalina Castano of Colombia during the U.S. Open at the National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y., on Aug. 31, 2005.

For more than 60 years, hard-hitting CBS newsman Mike Wallace has interviewed a who's who of the famous and infamous. In "Between You and Me," a memoir published in 2005, Wallace provides a behind-the-scenes look at some of his memorable conversations in which he has, as he termed it, established "a chemistry of confidentiality" with an interview subject.

CBS News correspondent Mike Wallace, right, talks with Disney CEO Michael Eisner at the 2005 Book Expo held at the Javits Center in New York on June 4, 2005. Wallace was signing copies of his latest book, a memoir titled "Between You and Me."

CBS News correspondents Mike Wallace and Andy Rooney of "60 Minutes" attend the screening of "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room" at the MGM screening room in New York on April 13, 2005.

Real estate mogul and TV personality Donald Trump, Melania Knauss and CBS News correspondent Mike Wallace attend the Donald Trump Friars Club Roast Luncheon at the New York Hilton on Oct. 15, 2004.

Actor Alec Baldwin, left, leans over to talk to "60 Minutes" correspondent Mike Wallace before the start of the women's single championship match between Russians Elena Dementieva and Svetlana Kuznetsova at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in Flushing Meadows, N.Y., on Sept. 11, 2004.

Veteran "60 Minutes" correspondent Mike Wallace, shown in May 2004, became the story when he was was handcuffed and driven to a police station Aug. 10, 2004, after arguing with city inspectors over where his driver had parked. The dispute began as Wallace was leaving a Manhattan restaurant. He received a disorderly conduct citation.

Actress Sharon Stone, Larry King, and Mike Wallace, from left to right, talk about television memories during "Larry King Live" on Nov. 19, 2003, in Los Angeles. Durign his career, Wallace has interviewed hundreds of newsmakers, including Ayatollah Khomeini, Yasser Arafat, King Hussein and Presidents Johnson, Nixon and Reagan.

"60 Minutes" correspondent Mike Wallace arrives at the "CBS At 75" celebration Nov. 2, 2003, in New York. In September 2003, Wallace received a Lifetime Achievement Emmy. It was his 20th Emmy Award.

Alan King, left, Carol Channing, and Mike Wallace, of CBS' "60 Minutes" chat at the 31st Annual Theatre Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the Gershwin Theatre in New York, Jan. 28, 2002.