Andy Rooney Dead at 92

The Wrap:

Andy Rooney, the cantankerous “60 Minutes” commentator known for delivering decades of provocative opinions in a plain-spoken style, has died at 92.

Rooney died in a New York City hospital of complications following a minor surgery.

“It’s a sad day at ’60 Minutes’ and for everybody here at CBS News,” said Jeff Fager, chairman of CBS News and the executive producer of “60 Minutes.” “It’s hard to imagine not having Andy around. He loved his life and he lived it on his own terms. We will miss him very much.”

Rooney delivered his last commentary on “60 Minutes” on Oct. 2. He said he always thought of himself as a writer, and that he would continue not to sign autographs because he didn’t believe in them. It was his 1,097th essay for the show.

“What kind of idiot wants my name on a piece of paper?” he asked.

He worked for CBS for six decades, half of them on the air. Once he was given his “60 Minutes” slot in 1978, he used it to comment on topics from the pressing to the mundane with the same directness and wry humor. (A CBS roundup of his commentaries is here.)

“There’s no doubt about it,” he said in one of his most famous commentaries. “Dogs are nicer than people.”

In a commentary that won him the third of his four Emmy Awards, he proposed to end a grain embargo against the Soviet Union by selling them cereal. “Are they going to take us seriously as an enemy if they think we eat Cap’n Crunch for breakfast?” he asked.

Full story here.