Andy Rooney Ending Regular '60 Minutes' Segment

NEW YORK -- After more than 1000 broadcasts, Andy Rooney will make his last regular appearance on this Sunday's 60 Minutes.our editor recommends'60 Minutes' creator Don Hewitt dies Rooney has been a fixture on the newsmagazine since 1978. And he'll make the announcement himself in a quintessential show-wrapping segment. It will be preceded by a career retrospective interview with correspondent Morley Safer. "There's nobody like Andy and there never will be," saidJeff Fager, CBS News chairman and 60 executive producer. "He'll hate hearing this, but he's an American original. His contributions to 60 Minutes are immeasurable; he's also a great friend." PHOTOS: The Faces of Broadcast and Cable News: Anderson Cooper, Katie Couric and More Rooney is not likely to be replaced. And Fager said that Rooney is always welcome on the broadcast. "It's harder for him to do it every week," said Fager. "But he will always have the ability to speak his mind on 60 Minutes when the urge hits him." Rooney has been at 60 Minutes since Don Hewitt conceived the show in 1968; he wrote and produced segments for Harry Reasoner. Rooney's first essay was about the reporting of automobile fatalities on Fourth of July weekend 1978. That fall, he became a regular essayist on the show. He alternated weeks with James J. Kilpatrick and Shana Alexander. But a year later, hegot the end slot to himself. Rooney joined CBS in 1949 as a writer for Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts and also wrote for The Garry Moore Show (1959-65) CBS News public-affairs broadcasts including The Twentieth Century, News of America, Adventure, Calendar and The Morning Show with Will Rogers, Jr. Related Topics 60 Minutes

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