Andy Rooney

"The most felicitous non-fiction writer in television" is how Time magazine once described Andy Rooney, the CBS News correspondent, writer and producer, who has won the Writers Guild Award for Best Script of the Year six times, more than any other writer in the history of the medium.

Rooney wrote the first of what has become his specialty, the television essay -- a personal format illuminating subjects most people take for granted, with "An Essay on Doors" in 1964.

The 1996-97 season marked his 19th on "60 Minutes." His unique reports, "A Few Minutes With Andy Rooney," became a regular feature in September 1978. He won Emmy Awards for these essays in 1979, 1981 and 1982. On May 8, 1994, Rooney presented his 500th segment on the broadcast.

In addition to his contributions to "60 Minutes," Rooney wrote, produced and narrated a series of broadcasts on various aspects of America and American life, including "Andy Rooney Takes Off," "Mr. Rooney Goes to Work," "Mr. Rooney Goes to Dinner," and "Mr. Rooney Goes to Washington," for which he won a Peabody award. He also participated in CBS News' extensive coverage of the 50th anniversary of D-Day by reporting on D-Day veterans en route to France aboard the Queen Elizabeth II, for CBS News' "Sunday Morning."

Between 1962 and 1968, he collaborated with the late CBS News correspondent Harry Reasoner - Rooney writing and producing, Reasoner narrating - on such notable CBS News specials as "An Essay on Bridges" (1965), "An Essay on Hotels" (1966), "An Essay on Women" (1967), "An Essay on Chairs" (1968) and "The Strange Case of the English Language" (1968). "An Essay on War" (1971) won Rooney his third Writers Guild Award. In 1968, he wrote two CBS News specials in the series "Of Black America." His script for "Black History: Lost, Stolen or Strayed" won him his first Emmy Award.

He wrote for "The Garry Moore Show" on the CBS Radio Network (1959-65) and was a writer for Arthur Godfrey (1949-55). He also wrote for such CBS News Public Affairs broadcasts as "The Twentieth Century," "News of America," "Adventure," "Calendar" and "The Morning Show."

Rooney is the author of many books, including: The Story of the Stars and Stripes, Air Gunner, Conqueror's Peace, The Fortunes of War, A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney, And More by Andy Rooney, Pieces of My Mind, Word for Word, Not That You Asked..., and Sweet and Sour, published by Putnam in 1992. The Story of the Stars and Stripes, which he wrote after three years as a correspondent for The Stars and Stripes in the European theater, was purchased by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He worked as a writer at MGM on that and other projects.

In addition to his work as a CBS News correspondent, Rooney writes a column two days a week for Tribune Media Services, which appears in 200 newspapers across the nation. He has also contributed articles to Esquire, Life, Look, Reader's Digest, Harper's, Playboy, Saturday Review and other magazines.

Rooney was born Jan. 14, 1919 in Albany, NY. He attended Colgate University until he was drafted into the Army in 1941. In February 1943, he was one of eight correspondents who flew with the Eighth Air Force on the first American bombing raid in Germany.

Rooney and his wife, Marguerite, live in Rowayton, Connecticut. They have four children.