Brookline Native Mike Wallace Dies
The 93-year old 60 Minutes 'icon' passed on Saturday night, CBS says.
Brookline native and Brookline High School graduate Mike Wallace is reported to have died peacefully last night at a care facility in New Canaan, Conn., where he had been living. He was 93.
The hard-driving 60 Minutes anchor/reporter was born in 1918 in Brookline.
His parents were Russian Jewish immigrant Frank and Zina (Sharfman) Wallace. His father was a grocer and insurance broker.
The Academy of Achievement says he was born Myron Wallace.
Wallace was a 1935 graduate of Brookline High, says Wikipedia, who went on to get his undergraduate degree from University of Michigan.
He summered on Martha's Vineyard, and had a home in New York.
CBS.com says next Sunday's 60 Minutes program, on Sunday, April 15, will be dedicated to Wallace.
[Editor's Note: A previous version of this article indicated that the family surname was originally Wallechinsky, taken from the Wikipedia page. The Wikipedia entry has since removed that fact, this article has been updated to reflect the change. 12:29 p.m., april 12]
L. Tobias
4:36 pm on Sunday, April 8, 2012
My late mother, Janet Mechanic (Janet Aronson, after her marriage) was a freshman at Brookline High School when Mike Wallace was a senior. When I was a little girl, my mother told me stories about helping Mike Wallace to study for exams. Patch readers will also remember my mother from her Beacon Street optometry practice with Arnelda Levine (married name, Shapiro). Janet and Arnelda were among the first women optometrists in Massachusetts, and their practice was famous in Brookline and environs. -- L. Tobias
Karla Vallance
9:36 pm on Sunday, April 8, 2012
Thanks, L. Tobias, for sharing your story. Does anyone else remember Mike or the rest of the Wallace family, especially during their Brookline years? Here's a story from another Patch editor: http://patch.com/A-srhc
Bill Davidson
11:16 am on Monday, April 9, 2012
Mike Wallace was interviewed by Larry Rutman a few years ago for a Brookline Access Television show. It would be nice if the station played that program again.
The text of the interview can be found in Larry's book, Voices of Brookline: http://www.voicesofbrookline.com
Grahame Turner
1:44 pm on Monday, April 9, 2012
Thanks for the info, I will look into that. I also passed your comment along to the folks at BATV, so there is a chance we will see it again.
Marc Wallace
5:38 pm on Wednesday, April 11, 2012
There is no evidence, even on Wikipedia (any longer, at least) that Mike Wallace's name was ever "Wallechinsky." Records indicate his father arrived in US from "Russia" circa 1893 with the name Friedan Wallik. There is nothing to indicate otherwise.
Grahame Turner
12:35 pm on Thursday, April 12, 2012
Thanks for updating us on the change! I have edited the article to reflect it, and included the editor's note (partly so that these comments still make sense).