Memorable moments in Mike Wallace's career

April 8, 2012 RSS Feed Print

By The Associated Press, Associated Press

Some of the many memorable moments in Mike Wallace's career at "60 Minutes":

— Asking Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979 his reaction to being called "a lunatic" by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.

— Challenging Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2005: "This isn't a real democracy, come on!"

— When late-night TV host Johnny Carson expressed sympathy for a newsmaker who was an alcoholic, Wallace asked: "It takes one to know one?"

— Airing a videotape in 1998 showing assisted suicide advocate Dr. Jack Kevorkian injecting a terminally ill patient with lethal drugs.

— Becoming the subject of a movie, "The Insider," after CBS cut an interview with tobacco company whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand from a 1995 story for fear of being sued. Months later, Wigand's interview was aired.

— Being sued by Vietnam-era Gen. William Westmoreland for libel after a 1982 documentary that alleged the general misled the American people. The lawsuit was withdrawn, but plunged Wallace into depression.

— Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad turned the tables on Wallace in a 2006 interview. "I hear this is your last interview," the president said. Replied Wallace: "What do you think? Is it a good idea to retire?" (

— Questions Barbra Streisand's many years of psychoanalysis: "What is she trying to find out that takes 20 years?"

— Almost anytime Wallace prefaced a query with, "Forgive me, but...," that's when you knew to expect a sharp shot to the gut.