‘Best TV interviewer ever’ Mike Wallace dies aged 93

Within five months of each other, two of the men who helped make 60 Minutes the most distinctive news show on US television have died.

First it was Andy Rooney, the cantankerous commentator who died in November, a month after delivering the last of his show-closing essays. Now 93-year-old Mike Wallace, the hard-charging interviewer who frequently led 60 Minutes and gave it journalistic heft with a showman’s flair, has died.

“More than anyone else he was responsible for the continuing success of 60 Minutes,” said veteran correspondent Morley Safer. “We are all in his debt.”