Tonight marks the end of Andy Rooney’s “60 Minutes” reign that lasted 33 years and included over 1,000 broadcasts.
CBS announced Rooney’s retirement on Tuesday.
“There’s nobody like Andy and there never will be. He’ll hate hearing this, but he’s an American original,” said Jeff Fager, chairman of CBS News and the executive producer of “60 Minutes,” in statement. “His contributions to ‘60 Minutes’ are immeasurable.”
According to CBS, he will leave his position as a regular but will still be able to make occasional appearances.
“It’s harder for him to do it every week, but he will always have the ability to speak his mind on ’60 Minutes’ when the urge hits him,” said Fager.
The 92-year-old will make his final appearance tonight and his final essay, his 1,097th, will be preceded by a segment on his career with CBS.
He first started doing his “A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney” in 1978, reported ABC.
As we previously reported, the Albany-native had been a contributor for “60 Minutes” since its inception in 1968. His full-time run started 10 years later with a segment reporting on automobile deaths that aired on Fourth of July weekend in 1978.
He first joined CBS in 1949 as a writer for “Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts.”
Rooney was born Jan. 14, 1919 in Albany, and attended Colgate University and was drafted into the Army in 1941. In 1943, Rooney was one of six correspondents who flew with the Eighth Air Force on the first American bombing raid over Germany.
