He can thread a needle with a well-turned phrase.
-- Don Hewitt, CBS TV producer on Morley Safer
b. 1931
Canadian born journalist
Morley Safer began his career as a reporter for various newspapers and wire services in Canada and England. He moved on to become a correspondent and producer with the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation before joining
CBS in 1964. At CBS Morley became part of a Sunday night ritual for millions of Americans as part of the ensemble on
60 Minutes.
Safer joined CBS News in April 1964 as a correspondent based in the London bureau. He opened CBS News' Saigon bureau in 1965, served two tours in Vietnam and received several major broadcasting honors for his reporting. In 1967, he was named London bureau chief, a position he held for three years. In that post he covered Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
[The ] BBC was known as Auntie—suggesting someone prudish and Victorian—and that she still is on some days. On others she’s a champagne-soaked floozie, her skirts in disarray, her mind in the gutter, and the mixture can be quite wonderful. -- Morley Safer
It was Safer's 1965 report showing U.S. Marines in one of their infamous 'Zippo raids' burning the village of
Cam Ne that helped change America's view of the war. The Cam Ne piece also earned Safer a spot on the
Top 100 Works of Journalism In the United States In the 20th Century. In December 1970 he left the London bureau to join
60 Minutes.
Over the years, Safer's reports and interviews have been honored with numerous awards, including 11 Emmys, three Overseas Press Club Awards, three George Foster Peabody Awards, two Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, a George Polk Memorial Award and the Paul White Award from the Radio/Television News Directors Association (RTNDA). In 1995, he was named a Chévalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government for his outstanding contribution to the world of art and letters.
In 1998 the 60 Minutes stopwatch was placed into the Smithsonian Institution as part of the National Museum of American History.
Safer is also the author of the best-seller Flashbacks: On Returning to Vietnam (1990).
Morley Safer was born Nov. 8, 1931 in Toronto. He and his wife, the former Jane Fearer, live in New York. They have a daughter, Sarah. For the past twenty years Morley and Jane have also had a constant companion in their Golden Retrievers - first Goldie and then Dora.
Editors Note Morley Safer on May 19, 2016 after battling pneumonia. He was 84 years old.
Sources:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1998/07/09/60minutes/main13545.shtml
www.museum.tv/archives/etv/V/htmlV/vietnamonte/vietnamonte.htm
http://www.bartleby.com/63/57/8457.html
http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/TV/9809/23/60.minutes/