Mike Wallace: A Life

by Peter Rader

The untold story of how the world's most feared TV reporter transformed his inner darkness into a journalistic juggernaut that riveted millions and redefined the landscape of television news.

In his four decades as the front man for 60 Minutes, the most successful show in television history, Mike Wallace earned the distinction of being hyperaggressive, self-assured, and unflinching in his riveting exposés of injustice and corruption. His unrivaled career includes interviews with every major newsmaker of the late twentieth century, from Martin Luther King to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Behind this intimidating facade, however, Wallace was profoundly depressed and haunted by demons that nearly drove him to suicide. Despite reaching the pinnacle of his profession, Wallace harbored deep insecurities about his credentials as a journalist. For half his life, he was more “TV Personality” than reporter, dabbling as a quiz show emcee, commercial pitchman, and actor. But in the wake of a life-changing personal tragedy, Wallace transformed himself, against all odds, into the most talked-about newsman in America.

Mike Wallace: A Life tells the story of a courageous man who triumphed over personal adversity and redefined the landscape of television news.

Genres: Biography, Journalism, Nonfiction, Tv, History, Memoir, American History

336 pages, Hardcover

First published April 13, 2012

About the author

PETER RADER was raised in Rome and educated at Harvard University. A filmmaker and screenwriter, he has developed projects for all the major Hollywood studios. Rader resides in Los Angeles with his wife and two sons. "Mike Wallace: A Life," his first book, was published in 2013. "Playing to the Gods: Sarah Bernhardt, Eleonora Duse and the Rivalry that Changed Acting Forever" is his latest book.

Reviews

[Phyllis Eisenstadt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Through a piercing examination of Wallace's personal and professional life, Rader provides a new perspective of this complex human being. We learn that this tough, respected, and ofttimes feared American icon had the same vulnerabilities and frailnesses as do lesser mortals. These discoveries serve to enhance Wallace's humanity, and provide insight into the many dimensions of his long, bittersweet, dramatic existence. Rader's masterful opus demonstrates that, personal trials notwithstanding, Wallace managed to retain his professional persona with grace and dignity. His many personal challenges may well have served to imbue him with the fairness and penchant for truth that characterized his professional life. Bravo to this author's riveting work. It is a must read for history-lovers as well as for observers of human nature. The timeliness of its publication at the finale of Wallace's life is not only a fitting farewell tribute to this truth-seeker, but also an introduction into the daunting efforts and expertise of a talented, dedicated new author.

Phyllis Eisenstadt

[Fran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mike Wallace: A Life
Author: Peter Rader


Mike Wallace was an icon in the world of journalism. On the outside or wide screen he appeared confident, self assured, confrontational at times and in total control of every situation he encountered. Mike Wallace was the perfect Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. From the onset of career, even when working on his High School newspaper, Mike Wallace was aggressive, on point and never walked away from an argument or conflict until he came out the victor. But, Mike Wallace hid behind his own fears, melancholy and depressed personality by creating situations that most would shy away from, not afraid to blunder in public and offset his insecurity with pranks and help from family members. With an overbearing mother, successful and honorable father that he modeled himself after, Mike faltered in this world hoping to find the right niche that would be his and his alone.

Integrity is never overrated. Taking pride in watching his father’s success and admiring him when defeated and never giving up, Mike never quite fit in anywhere no matter how hard he tried. Yet, he was clever, resourceful and super smart when he wanted to be. With the help of a close relative he was admitted to the University of Michigan and it is there where things would change for this enterprising man. From radio, to television, journalism, actor and entertainer, he did it all. Morning news, specials, 24 hour news, the internet, newsmagazines and of course 60 Minutes which he put on the map. When you think about 60 Minutes you think Mike Wallace.


But, from the start you would learn he was a rebel and sometimes what he said in public or on the air was not always well received. From the many stormy romances he had to the difficulties dealing with his many marriages author Peter Rader shares Mike’s life with so many who admired and loved his manner and style. Mike appeared on many quiz shows such as Information please in his last year at the University of Michigan followed by his first radio job as a newscaster for WOOD Radio in Grand Rapids. Moving next to WXYZ Radio as an announcer and after many other jobs in radio he decided to enlist in the Navy in 1943 and was discharged in 1946. Mike loved work and dappled in many areas of television and radio including radio action shows and announcing a real classic The Lone Ranger. CBS offered him a job as a staff announcer on their network. But, what most people recognize and remember him for as the lead reporter on 60 Minutes, which led him into some really confrontational situations but definitely exciting reporting. Interviewing Farrakhan he stated and eluded that Nigeria is one of the most corrupt countries in the world. One of the most talked about shows was Buff and Mike and his stormy romance with her led to many interesting times. Buff, with as strong a personality as Mike did not like being upstaged, pushed aside or not in the limelight. Married to her and no longer to Norma, deciding to take a job as the emcee on I’ll Buy That, Buff decided to call it quits. Next, we learn about his relationship with Lorraine Perigord and his rise to finally sitting in that anchor chair and working round the clock. This is when and where Mike thrived and it started with two news shows on Channel Five. Moving to WAMD he became the most talked about newsman in America. Working with Virginia Graham he would be outmatched and learn many other lessons.

The author shares the back-stories of many of his wives, newscasters like Ted Yates and we being to understand that Mike was not the only one hungry for that camera and top seat in the news. Ted taught Mike how to think outside to box, “question conventional wisdom as to how news should be gathered and presented.” Working on Night Beat would unearth a whole new spectrum of news for him and a whole new world of TV sensationalism. Mike was unique, different and no one could really replicate his style. Next, the Mike Wallace Interview, a national show on ABC. Lawsuits, interviewing politicians, discussing others on his show, and problems arouse even at ABC. John Daly made sure he was not given any other news assignments.

Network news is definitely cutthroat even now. But, in the 1960;’s Mike finally became a correspondent for CBS deciding to go after hard news after losing his oldest son, Peter. Meeting Edward Murrow and one of my grandmother’s favorites newscasters Douglas Edwards these two icons both finding their way to CBS but they would not be working together for very long. But, the assignment that would create the real Mike Wallace happened in 1968 when he became the co-host of 60 Minutes. A slow starter but after ten years it would become one of the top ten rated news shows in the history of television news programs. Watching all of the newscasters on the show deal with corruption, fraud and world news everyone must tuned to CBS for that special sixty minutes.

Whether interviewing a political figure or just reaching out to the American public with a story Mike Wallace disclosed it all and did it his way. But, in the middle 80’s the world would learn about the other side of Mike and find out that the smile on his face was just a mask for the one hidden behind his clinical depression. This outgoing, assertive and confident man was really just a façade. Admitting his problem and getting help made a difference not just to him but others too.

Imagine interviewing Nixon right before the election. Nothing remarkable happened during that interview nor does Nixon attempt to thwart any of his questions. Interviewing not only Nixon, Ronald Reagan and even John F. Kennedy plus foreign leaders like Menachem Begin and Anwar el-Sadat, Mike Wallace ran the full spectrum of every type of interview. Mike’s form of journalism was referred to as “Ambush journalism” and he was the best at it. But, in 1984 things changed when the world would really see the other side of him after taking an almost lethal overdose of sleeping pills. Fortunately, his wife Mary would find him summoned their private doctors and called for emergency help.

Mike Wallace was on the air for many years on 60 Minutes after dealing with the Westmorland trial and much more. Friends would struggle, things changed and then in 2006 he decided to retire from the show. There is so much to share about his life but I won’t spoil it for the reader because you want to learn about him for yourself. Imagine more than sixty years in the news business. In August of 2006 Mike interviewed Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad. Knowing that this man was a “calculating provocateur would make for an interesting interview. The author shares the interview with readers in the final chapter of the book titled Tough but Fair. Mike’s death marks the end of an era in news reporting but he will truly remain in the hearts, minds and thoughts of everyone. Thank you to Peter Rader for allowing everyone to hear Mike’s voice and innermost thoughts in this outstanding biography told honestly, straightforward and definitely the way Mike would have wanted it told.
Fran Lewis: reviewer

[Monika · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just found out I am getting this, my first goodreads contest winner book. I am actually looking forward to it. This man was an icon of American journalism. I remember watching 60 minutes as a child and being fascinated with the real live stories they told. It's kind of funny in a way my mom would not let me watch the evening news, she felt the coverage of the Vietnam war was not suitable for me to watch but 60 minutes, that I could watch.

[Dale Stonehouse · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was not high on my list but a free copy from Goodreads changed that. While Wallace's public personality and performance were well-detailed, this bio suffers from his lifelong penchant for avoiding talking about his feelings in his personal life. Even so, his long career in TV and radio are unique and his interviewing technique has been emulated widely. Starting out with a preconceived idea of what the interviewee will say is certainly not objective, but most journalism falls into that category, if not to that extreme. If Wallace seemed to be a 60 Minutes bully, the author shows that behind the bully, as always, is an insecure human being searching for approval.

[Carolyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I guess I like biographies that inspire. His life did not and it certainly soured me on 60 Minutes (probably only saw a few episodes in my life altogether). I think he was a fortunate man to have met and made friends with Gordon B. Hinckley. I would say it was a bit fascinating to learn about the history behind newsmaking and Wallace was certainly one who grew with it and helped revolutionize new ways to deliver news.

[Billy Jack · Rating 2 out of 5]

The real score should be 2.5 but its close. This book is seemingly poorly written, I found several spelling and the occasional punctuation error throughout. It is filled with tired cliches and the beginnings and endings of chapters are nowhere near seamless. Continuously bouncing around in the timeline, forever jumping forward and telling the reader that something is on the way and then in the next sentence reminding us of something that happened just a few pages ago.

It took a while to read, about a week for 280 pages which is slow for me. It is not a book that demands to be read. It very much builds and builds to crescendo after crescendo but the last 20 or so pages seem to be split on whether they want to apologize for the flagging years of Wallace or condemn him for their quality. It is heavily annotated, impressively so, but constantly reminding me of other books on the same subject makes me want to read those.

[Csparrenberger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been watching 60 minutes since it began in 1968. I have seen Mike Wallace on TV for decades. I really enjoyed this book which was a good inside look at the man who made this iconic television program.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you’ve watched television since the 40’s and 50’s, Mike Wallace needs no introduction. You’ve been an eye witness to his very long, iconic media career. This is not the first time someone has attempted to capture the newsman’s life in print. Here, a self-proclaimed screenwriter, Peter Rader, initially thought Wallace’s life should be put on the silver screen. Ultimately, he decided his bio should begin as a book.

Most Americans should be aware that Wallace, who recently passed away just short of his 94th birthday, was the original co-host of the pioneer news magazine, Sixty Minutes, which is still going strong in the CBS Sunday night line-up some 44 years later.

Wallace’s pre-CBS career, however, may come as a shock to you. In fine detail, Rader documents the journalist’s many so-called “frivolous” roles he accepted beginning with acting in radio soap operas, moving on to emceeing pub-sponsored beauty pageants, a circus barker, a quiz master, roles in off Broadway plays, not to mention an early version of Regis and Kathy Lee starring Wallace and “a second-tier celebrity,” Buff Cobb who would eventually become Wife No. 2.

If you watch some of Wallace’s early TV work on shows like Night Beat, The Mike Wallace Interview or PM East, (still available on the Internet), you may be appalled to see the legendary news correspondent not only smoking on camera but doing his own commercials for his favorite cigarette. Journalistic standards have changed just a bit since tobacco advertising was banned from the nation’s airwaves effective January 2, 1971.

I came away from this bio slightly stunned by Wallace’s nearly hidden private life. Consider his pioneering “ambush interviews.” Consider several failed marriages. Consider the tragic events in and around the Wallace family. Consider the law suits, the bouts of depression, at least one suicide attempt. Rader was right. Wallace’s life could make a compelling movie. In the footsteps of Edward R. Murrow’s black-and-white drama documentary, Good Night and Good Luck.

[Mediaman · Rating 2 out of 5]

This overview of Mike Wallace's life contains mistakes, made-up conversations and distorted observations that keep it from being objective. I'm not sure what the other Amazon reviewers were reading but they must not have looked at the last few pages where the author admits his sister worked for Mike Wallace (how can Rader claim objectivity?) and where he writes, "Where specific information was not available, I employed a narrative convention: constructing a plausible situation with imagined dialogue that reflects the attitudes and feelings that I know to have been present at the time."

Namely, he admits to fictionalizing parts of this book.

And how did he "know" the "attitudes and feeling" that were present? He wasn't there and he cannot know someone's internal thoughts. Instead most of the book's "research" comes from old articles, books and tapes that the author borrows from.

The pages are filled with hyperbole that makes claims about Wallace that are exaggerated while underplaying his faults. Wallace refused to be part of this book but would appreciate that the author treats the newsman as a "hero." Wallace might even support the author's fictionalizing conversations, since Wallace was often caught misrepresenting information on 60 Minutes. While Wallace certainly did some good interviews and fronted some major stories (with the work actually done by his producers and editors), his many ethical lapses are only briefly mentioned. The author says that Wallace's influence on journalism "cannot be overstated" but that's exactly what happens here.

The book is only for those not interested in reading the many other books out there on the show (include two of Wallace's own memoirs) and those that like books written in puffy tabloid style that lack fairness and objectivity. Make sure to first read the acknowledgments and author's note in the back so you can read it skeptically, just the way Mike Wallace would have looked at it.
Comment

[Lisa Carlson · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the first pages author Peter Rader places the reader at the beginning of Mike (born Myron) Wallace's life. We come to know his family life and how he was a rambunctious boy who didn't seem to live up to the expectations of a strict mother. His father may have helped soften the regimen but Wallace was going to gain his independence one way or another. As anyone who has watched Mike Wallace on television knows he had a tenacity that was second to none and it's clear it began with his first job. This story details his personal battles with his appearance, the death of one of his sons, the failed marriages, depression and invites us into the newsroom. This is a story about one of the most recognized faces in journalism and yet he was feared by some of the most famous people and company executives. I have to say I appreciate the late Mike Wallace more than ever especially when I see where journalism has gone today. The story is punctuated with black and white pictures. Even though his story is sad at times I was touched to read it.

[Marla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mike Wallace is one of the reasons why I went to journalism school. I first fell in love with Walter Cronkite and watched him every day after school. Then I fell in love with Mike Wallace on 60 minutes and the way he interviewed.

After reading this book, I realize Mike Wallace was not a man I should have idolized. Yes, he had hard hitting questions during his interviews, but the behind the scenes, he was not a very nice person. He was also a very conflicted and troubled person.

This was a very well written book and I really enjoyed learning about Mike Wallace. He really struggled his entire life and you wouldn't have known that from just watching 60 Minutes. It's also interesting to see a little bit about the behind the scenes of network television and news programs.

[Dick Hamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the whole I liked the book, but I felt that much more could have been said or written. To me, Mike Wallace was almost larger than life, given my age I know him only from 60 Minutes. But the book did not really seem to reveal enough about him. Perhaps that was all he was willing to reveal to us, but I felt that the answers sometimes seemed too pat. I was left wanting to find out more about him.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book as a Goodread's first read. What a great book! As a viewer of 60 minutes and a fan of Mike Wallace for many years, I did not realize how little I knew about the man outside of the show. This was a very thorough look at his life covering family, career, and his bouts with depression. While I sometimes find nonfiction difficult to read, this book was hard to put down. Great job, Mr. Rader!

[Dom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I watched Mike Wallace for years on 60 Minutes and The 20th Century. He always struck me as so confident and sure of himself, as a man who was tough through and through.

It was fascinating to read about the real Mike Wallace, the one who seemed to feel he always had to prove himself, and whose confidence was so easily shattered. It was as if a great building had been built upon a house of cards and his life was a constant struggle to keep it all from collapsing.

A fascinating read.

[jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was more impressed by the writing skill of this biographer Peter Rader than the subject he chose. A masterful work. It revealed Mike Wallace's driving ambition and his personal weaknesses. It is the rare biographer who can close each chapter with a single line that compels you to start the next chapter right now- work, sleep, anything else can wait.

As for Mike Wallace I think he eventuallly learned that the news business is show business and family should come first.

[Sherri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mike Wallace is a media legend. He strived to change the way we viewed the world we live in. He stood up for what he believed in even if it wasn't popular. I grew up watching 60 minutes. I truly enjoyed the way this book took you through his professional as well as personal life. I won this book from Goodreads giveway. Thanks Goodreads.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author of this biography is used to writing screen plays and it show in the prose. While I found Mike Wallace and interesting and complex man between the covers of this book, I also felt like something was missing.

[Robert Sparrenberger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always remember watching 60 minutes as a kid and seeing mike Wallace deliver the big interviews. The book didn’t disappoint and I learned some things about him along the way.

Definitely worth your time.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gives an insight into the life of the man we've seen on television for so many years.

[Kathy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Half way through, lost interest. Didn't finish.

[Vionna · Rating 3 out of 5]

An informative and enjoyable bio. Mike Wallace certainly overcame many personal obstacles to become a famous journalist

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good history of the man, but possibly covered in other books about him.