Mike Wallace dead: ’60 Minutes’ correspondent dies at age 93 (VIDEO)

Mike Wallace, an American broadcaster who for 40 years appeared on the newsmagazine show "60 Minutes," has died at the age of 93, CBS News said Sunday.

Wallace's death was announced on CBS, according to The New York Times. Bob Scheiffer, host of “Face the Nation,” said Wallace died Saturday night in New Haven, Connecticut, with his family around him.

Wallace was a TV newsman for 65 years. He was one of the original correspondents and hosts of "60 Minutes," which started in 1968, the Times said. 

Wallace "was perhaps best known for ambush interviews of crooks and cheats," a signature reporting technique that was to become an industry staple, biographer Peter Rader writes in the book “Mike Wallace: A Life,” according to the Times.

In an essay for the CBS News website, Morley Safer, a fellow "60 Minutes" correspondent, wrote that "there were very few 20th century icons who didn't submit to a Mike Wallace interview."

"He lectured Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, on corruption. He lectured Yassir Arafat on violence. He asked the Ayatollah Khoumeini if he were crazy," Safer wrote.

Wallace officially retired in 2006 but last appeared on “60 Minutes” in January 2008, when he had an exclusive interview with baseball's Roger Clemens, a legendary pitcher who had been accused of steroid use.

According to the Times, in interviews after he retired, Wallace said he would want his epigraph to read: “Tough But Fair.”

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