Andy Rooney

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Andy Rooney
Image:Andy-rooney on 60 minutes.jpg
Andy Rooney on 60 Minutes
BornJanuary 14 1919 (1919-01-14) (age 90)
Image:Flag of the United States.svg Image:Flag of New York.svg Albany, New York
OccupationCommentator, Journalist

Andrew Aitken Rooney (born January 14, 1919) is an American radio and television writer. He became most famous as a humorist and commentator with his weekly broadcast A Few Minutes With Andy Rooney, a part of the CBS news program 60 Minutes since 1979.

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[edit] Youth

Rooney attended The Albany Academy in Albany, New York, and later attended Colgate University in Hamilton in upstate New York, where he was initiated into the Sigma Chi fraternity, until he was drafted into the Army in August 1941. He began his career in newspapers there, writing for Stars and Stripes in the European Theater during World War II. He later published a memoir, My War (1997) about this war reporting. In addition to recounting firsthand several notable historical events and people (like the entry into Paris, the concentration camps, etc), Rooney describes how it shaped his experience both as a writer and reporter.

In February 1943, flying with the Eighth Air Force, he was one of six correspondents who flew on the first American bombing raid over Germany. Later, he was one of the first American journalists to visit the German concentration camps as World War II wound down, and one of the first to write about them.

[edit] CBS career

Rooney joined CBS in 1949, as a writer for Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, when Godfrey was at his peak on CBS radio and TV. The program was a hit, reaching number one in 1952, during Rooney's tenure with the program. He also wrote for Godfrey's daytime radio and TV show Arthur Godfrey Time. He later moved on to The Garry Moore Show, which also became a hit program. During the same period, he also wrote for CBS News public affairs programs such as The 20th Century.

According to CBS News's biography of him, Rooney wrote his first television essay, a longer-length precursor of the type he does on 60 Minutes, in 1964, “An Essay on Doors”. From 1962 to 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), 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”, and his script for “Black History: Lost, Stolen, or Strayed” won him his first Emmy.

[edit] A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney

Although originally a regular correspondent, Rooney now has his own "end-of-show" segment, A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney, in which he offers satire on a trivial everyday issue, such as the cost of groceries, annoying relatives, or faulty Christmas presents. Rooney's appearances on A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney often include whimsical lists (e.g., types of milk [1], bottled water brands [2] , car brands [3], sports mascots [4], etc.).

In recent years his segments have become more political, as well. For example, Rooney has become quite critical of George W. Bush and the 2003 Iraq War. Despite being known best for these segments, Rooney has always considered himself a writer who appears on television.

His shorter television essays have been archived in numerous books, such as Common Nonsense, which came out in 2002, and Years of Minutes, released in 2003. He also has a regular syndicated newspaper column that runs in many newspapers in the United States. He has won three Emmy Awards for his essays, which now number close to 1,000. He was also awarded a Lifetime Achievement Emmy.

Rooney's often irritable and formulaic delivery of observations are frequently parodied.

[edit] Family life

He has four children, including a daughter, Emily Rooney, who is a TV talk show host and former ABC News producer; she currently hosts a nightly Boston-area public affairs program, Greater Boston, on WGBH. His son, Brian Rooney, has been a correspondent for ABC since the 1980s. Another daughter, Ellen, is a photographer based in London. His wife of 62 years, Marguerite, died in 2004. He currently lives in the Rowayton section of Norwalk, Connecticut.

Rooney is a longtime season ticket holder for the New York Football Giants of the National Football Conference.

[edit] Racial remarks

Rooney has been criticized by some for comments that may be considered racist or bigoted. On the Don Imus show which is simulcast on MSNBC, Rooney commented that he "hated" the term "African-American" saying "The word Negro, perfectly good word. It's a strong word and a good word. I don't see anything wrong with that." [1]

In a 2002 commentary, Rooney addressed the use of the term "Negro" this way:

"Our thoughts about words change over the years. In 1968, I wrote a television show called 'Black History, Lost, Stolen or Strayed' for Bill Cosby. I remember being uneasy with the word 'black' because the acceptable word back then was 'Negro.' Today, I wouldn't use 'Negro.' It's a good, strong word, but now it sounds wrong to me.

"Different ethnic groups of Americans have always had terrible nicknames for each other. I remember hearing them as a kid. You don't hear them much anymore because they always make the person using them sound like such ignorant jerk.

"Italians were wops. Germans were krauts. Kikes ... Spics. Irish Catholics were "harps" or "micks." Wetbacks. Koreans or Vietnamese were "gooks." Chinks ... Slant eyes. ... Towel-heads." [2]

He also wrote a column in 1992 that it was "silly" for Native-Americans to complain about team names like the Redskins saying, "The real problem is, we took the country away from the Indians, they want it back and we're not going to give it to them. We feel guilty and we'll do what we can for them within reason, but they can't have their country back. Next question." [3]

In a recent column for Tribune media services, he wrote, "I know all about Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, but today's baseball stars are all guys named Rodriguez to me." [4] Rooney later commented, "Yeah, I probably shouldn't have said it, [but] it's a name that seems common in baseball now. I certainly didn't think of it in any derogatory sense." [5]

[edit] Controversial remarks on Kurt Cobain's suicide

In a 1994 segment, Rooney commented on Kurt Cobain's suicide in a way that many deemed mean-spirited. Stating that he had never heard of Kurt Cobain or the band Nirvana, he went on to say that Cobain's suicide made him angry. "A lot of people would like to have the years left that he threw away," Mr. Rooney said. "What's all this nonsense about how terrible life is?" he asked, and he added, speaking rhetorically to a young woman who had wept at the suicide, "I'd love to relieve the pain you're going through by switching my age for yours." "What would all these young people be doing if they had real problems like a Depression, World War II or Vietnam?" "[If he] applied the same brain to his music that he applied to his drug-infested life, its reasonable to think that his music may not have made much sense either." Later, Rooney admitted that he might have been "unfair".[5]

[edit] Religious opinions

Rooney has been rumored to be an atheist for many years. Over the years many of his editorials have mildly lampooned the concept of God and organized religion. Increased speculation on this was brought to a head by a series of comments he made regarding Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ (2004). In public comments he has described himself as, at different times, an agnostic and as an atheist. [6]

[edit] Books

[edit] References

  1. ^ CBSnews. What Have They Done To Milk?, Andy Rooney Wonders What They Have Done To Dairy - CBS News. Retrieved on 2007-07-11.
  2. ^ CBSnews. Andy Bottles Eau De Rooney, Andy Rooney May Get Into The Bottled Water Business. - CBS News. Retrieved on 2007-07-11.
  3. ^ CBSnews. Andy's Trip To The Auto Show, Andy Rooney Checks Out The New Rides At The Auto Show - CBS News. Retrieved on 2007-07-11.
  4. ^ CBSnews. What's In A Team Name?, Andy Rooney Takes A Closer Look At The Names Of Sports Teams - CBS News. Retrieved on 2007-07-11.
  5. ^ Years of Minutes (2003), p. 266–268.
  6. ^ The Tufts Daily, "Rooney Offers His Opinion", 19 November 2004

[edit] External links

fi:Andy Rooney

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