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.
His weekly report, "A Few Minutes With Andy Rooney," became a regular feature on "60 Minutes" in September 1978. He won Emmy Awards in 1979, 1981 and 1982. 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, Rooney 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) and "An Essay on War" (1971), which 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 and Sweet and Sour. The Story of the Stars and Stripes, which he wrote after three years as a correspondent for the legendary paper during World War II, 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 weekly column 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.
Andy Rooney Samples
It's All Rice and Potatoes to Me...
I know you didn't ask, but here are some of my opinions on the best things to eat. I agree with most of the rest of the world that rice is one of the best foods.
Three Seasons...Not Four!
Of all the seasons, I like spring the least. The trouble with spring is, it doesn't know whether to be winter or summer, and ends up neither. The month of March ends when spring begins, and seldom do we get a warm day all month.
Man's Best Friend
I was thinking about dogs the other day as I watched the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. I'll always remember that when I was a kid living on Partridge Street there were about five dogs in the neighborhood.
View on the News
Ever since World War II, I've been reading and writing headlines, but I look at my newspaper every day and don't understand more than half of them. STIMULUS JOBS ON STATE'S BILL IN MISSISSIPPI. Does everyone else know what a "stimulus job" is?
My Super Super Bowl Weekend
There are a lot of things I like to do and a lot of good times of the year. The Super Bowl was last Sunday, and if you care, you know who won. The game is only part of going to the Super Bowl, of course.
For the Love of the English Language
When I first started school, I knew I was in trouble because my handwriting was so bad. I used to do a lot of woodworking. If the typewriter hadn't been invented, I might have ended up digging ditches.
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