Known as the "King of Confrontation," Mike Wallace got his start on radio quiz show Information Please. Only 21 years old at the time, he was a student at the University of Michigan and was billed as Myron Wallace "the spirit of youth." He later worked in various radio stations as an announcer, commercial spokesman, writer, and newscaster.
 Soon after WWII began, Mike Wallace enlisted in the US Navy as a communications officer and served in the Pacific Theater. When he was discharged, he returned to work in radio as a staff announcer with the Spike Jones show and Groucho Marx You Bet Your Life. He even tried radio drama in the show Stand By for Crime.
Like many newscasters on his day, including Walter Cronkite, Mike Wallace hosted game shows including "Majority Rules", "What's in a Word", "The Big Surprise", and the pilot episode for "Nothing But the Truth."
After the tragic death of his son, he focused on serious news programming. Mike Wallace hosted a hardboiled interview program called Night Beat interviewing architect Frank Lloyd Wright and Henry Kissinger.
His interviews on the television program 60 Minutes are legendary. He interviewed heads of state, celebrities, and important people since the show's inception on September 1968 until his semi-retirement in 2006.
Mike Wallace's nicknames were "King of Confrontation" and "Mike Malice" for his unforgiving interviewing style. Known best for his tough interviewing style, he would always preface a hard question with the phrase "Forgive Me."
This old time radio collection includes known appearances by Mike Wallace, sometimes billed as Myron Wallace.
|
E-mail this page to a friend