Don Hewitt, the legendary CBS News producer and creator of “60 Minutes,” has died. Sources inside CBS News tell us Hewitt died this morning, but did not have any further information.
Hewitt, 86, was last seen publicly at the funeral for Walter Cronkite July 23. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in March.
> More: From Hewitt’s bio on CBSNews.com:
Hewitt began his career with CBS News in 1948 as an associate director of “Douglas Edwards with the News,” then served as producer-director of the broadcast for 14 years. He later became executive producer of the “CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite.”
Hewitt is best known for “60 Minutes”, the groundbreaking news broadcast he created in 1968 and stepped down from as its executive producer in June 2004. It remains the most popular television program in history, making the top-10 list for an unprecedented 23 straight seasons – a record five of them as the number-one broadcast. It is still the number-one news program.
Hewitt began his journalism career in 1942 as head copyboy for the New York Herald Tribune after attending New York University for one year. During World War II, he served as a correspondent in the European and Pacific theaters (1943-45). He later became night editor of the Associated Press’s Memphis bureau (1945-46), went on to become editor of the Pelham (N.Y.) Sun (1946-47) and was the night telephoto editor for Acme News Pictures.
> More: Images from the life and career of Don Hewitt in a special slideshow on CBSNews.com…
> More: When Hewitt stepped down from “60 Minutes,” where he’d spent 36 years, CBS News produced a special called “Tell Me A Story.” A portion is below:
Click continued to see the Don Hewitt obituary, produced by CBS News…