Andy Rooney

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Andy Rooney in June 2008

Andrew Aitken "Andy" Rooney (born January 14, 1919 in Albany , New York , † November 4, 2011 in New York City , New York) was an American radio and television journalist and author . He was best known as a humorist and commentator for his contribution "A Few Minutes With Andy Rooney" in 60 Minutes , which was broadcast weekly from 1979-2011.

Life

Andy Rooney attended the Albany Academy (New York) and later studied at Colgate University in Hamilton , where he became a member of the student fraternity " Sigma Chi ". In 1941 he joined the US Army and wrote for the Stars and Stripes during World War II . Rooney published his memories of this time, which had a strong influence on him as a writer and journalist, in the book "My War", which was published in 1997.

In February 1943 he accompanied the Eighth Air Force Squadron as a correspondent during the first American bombing raid on Germany. After the war, Rooney was one of the first American journalists to visit and report on a German concentration camp .

Rooney was the father of three daughters and one son. Emily Rooney works as the presenter of the “ Greater Boston ” program on the public broadcaster WGBH-TV in Boston . His son, Brian Rooney has been a correspondent for ABC since the 1980s . Ellen Rooney, Emily's twin sister, lives in London and works as a photographer. Martha Rooney is the press officer for the National Library of Medicine . His wife Marguerite, who was married to him for 62 years, died in 2004 at the age of 84. Rooney lived alternately in Norwalk (Connecticut) and Rensselaerville in New York State .

Career

Rooney joined CBS in 1949 and initially only worked as a writer for Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts when Godfrey was at the height of his career at CBS. During Rooney's work, it reached number 1 in the ratings in 1952 . He subsequently also wrote for Godfrey's radio and television program " Arthur Godfrey Time ". When Rooney began writing for the Garry Moore Show , it was a success too.

According to a CBS News biography, Rooney wrote " An Essay on Doors, " his first essay for television, in 1964. From 1962 to 1968 he worked with what would become CBS News correspondent Harry Reasoner . Rooney wrote and produced while Reasoner moderated the contributions. The joint work resulted in " CBS News specials " such 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). For "An Essay on War" (1971) Rooney received his third " Writers Guild Award ".

In 1968 he won his first of three Emmys for the essay "Black History: Lost, Stolen, or Strayed" as part of the CBS News special series "Of Black America" .

"A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney"

In addition to his regular work as a correspondent, he started his own "End-of-Show" program "A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney" in 1979, in which he satirically dealt with trivial questions of everyday life. Among other things, he discussed the cost of groceries, annoying relatives and senseless Christmas gifts. He was also happy to give bizarre lists such as B. of milk types, mineral water brands, automobile manufacturers or the names of sports team mascots . Rooney's formulaic way of speaking is often parodied.

In recent years he has given his reports a more political direction. Rooney was critical of George W. Bush regarding the Iraq war . Although known for his political statements, Rooney referred to himself as a writer who speaks up on television.

His shorter TV essays have been published in numerous books such as “ Common Nonsense ” (2002) and “ Years of Minutes ” (2003). Rooney regularly wrote columns that appeared in various newspapers in the United States. He received the " Lifetime Achievement Emmy " for a total of around 1,000 essays .

Rooney produced a total of 1,097 editions of his program. His last post ran on October 2, 2011, just four weeks before his death. He announced that he would not retire and that he would occasionally reappear in the program.

He died a month later after being hospitalized for complications from minor surgery.

Controversy

Rooney regularly poked fun at " the concept of God " and all forms of "organized religion" in his editorials . A well-known example of this is a series of commentaries on Mel Gibson's feature film The Passion of the Christ . He described himself as an agnostic .

Rooney was accused of deliberately using the word negro ("Negro") without worrying about its negative connotation. He commented on this as follows:

“The meaning of words changes over time for us humans. In 1968 I wrote texts for Bill Cosby for the show 'Black History, Lost, Stolen or Strayed'. It was easier for me to use the word negro instead of black, because negro was a common term back then. Today I wouldn't use the word negro anymore. It's a good and meaningful term, but it sounds wrong to my ears too. The ethnic groups have always given each other the worst nicknames. I remember it from my youth. Today it is no longer heard very rarely, because it marks whoever uses it as an ignorant idiot. (Rooney now mentions a whole series of swear words) "

- "What's In A Word?"

In 1992, he wrote in a column that it was stupid for North American Indians to complain about sports teams using names like Redskins . “The real problem with them is that we stole the land from the Indians. They want it back, but we won't give it to them. We feel guilty and we will do what we can to make up for our guilt, but they cannot get their land back. Next question!".

In 1994, Rooney commented on Kurt Cobain's suicide . After realizing that he had never heard of Kurt Cobain or the band Nirvana , he said:

"" A lot of people would be happy with the years of life he threw away. What nonsense is it to complain about how awful life is? What do you do with real problems like an economic crisis, World War II or Vietnam? If he (Cobain) used as little intellect to compose as it takes to take drugs, one can assume that his music hardly made any sense. "

- Years of Minutes

Rooney later described these statements as "unfair", but never apologized for them.

In 2003 an email was circulating in which Rooney was quoted with various sexist and racist remarks from 60 Minutes. Rooney claimed, however, that he had never made such statements and that if he could, he would sue the person who circulated the mail.

In the same year, Rooney, visibly annoyed, broke off an interview with Ali G on the Da Ali G Show . Before breaking off, Rooney repeatedly improved the use of " does " as a conjugation of the verb " to do " in the second person when he was addressed by "Ali G". He then said:

"That's just an English / American language thing, I think."

to which Rooney replied:

"No no. This is just wrong English. The English language is very clear. I have over fifty books on the English language, and I'll lend you one if you want. "

Rooney then got up and left. The interruption of the interview was a first on the show and has not happened again since.

In 2007 he wrote in a column: "I know everything about Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig , but today's baseball stars are all Rodriguez to me ". Rooney later said, “Well, I shouldn't have said that, but the name seems pretty common in baseball. I don't associate derogatory thoughts with him "

Award

In 2001 he was awarded the Emperor Has No Clothes Award from the Freedom From Religion Foundation .

Works

Filmography (selection)

  • 1960: Calendar (TV series, producer)
  • 1968: CBS Reports (TV series, an episode, writer, and producer)
  • 1978: Mr. Rooney Goes to Dinner (TV movie, episode, screenplay)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c d e Andy Rooney, a Cranky Voice of CBS, Dies at 92 , The New York Times , November 5, 2011
  2. ↑ Have They Done To Milk ?, Andy Rooney Wonders What They Have Done To Dairy , CBS News, July 1, 2007
  3. ↑ Andy Bottles Eau De Rooney, Andy Rooney May Get Into The Bottled Water Business , CBS News, July 8, 2007
  4. ^ Andy's Trip To The Auto Show, Andy Rooney Checks Out The New Rides At The Auto Show , CBS News, April 15, 2007
  5. ↑ What's In A Team Name ?, Andy Rooney Takes A Closer Look At The Names Of Sports Teams , CBS News, April 23, 2008
  6. ^ Andy Rooney Talks about a Microsoft Zune (parody) , YouTube
  7. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original dated November 7, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / articles.cnn.com
  8. ^ Rooney offers his opinion ( memo of December 22, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), Tufts Daily, November 19, 2004
  9. ^ What's In A Word ?, Andy Rooney Looks At The Names People Use , CBS News, Jan. 20, 2002
  10. ↑ Original: 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 jerks. 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".
  11. ^ Blue Corn Comics - Andy Rooney's Commentary on Indians
  12. ↑ Original: "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! "
  13. ↑ In his book "Years of Minutes" (2003), pp. 266–268.
  14. ↑ Original: “A lot of people would like to have the years left that he threw away. What's all this nonsense about how terrible life is? "- and added, speaking rhetorically to a young woman:" 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 (Cobain) 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. "
  15. ↑ Original: "There's a collection of racist and sexist remarks on the Internet under a picture of me with the caption" ANDY ROONEY SAID ON 60 MINUTES ". If I could find the person who did write it using my name I would sue him. "
  16. ↑ Andy Opens His Mailbag , CBS News, Sep 23, 2005
  17. ↑ Rooney E-Mail , Article on false e-mail claims, Snopes.com
  18. ↑ Original: "I think that's an English, American thing going on"
  19. ↑ Original: “No, no. That's English. The English language is very clear. I have over fifty books on the English language if you'd like to borrow one. "
  20. ^ Ali G Interviews Andy Rooney , on YouTube
  21. ↑ Original: "I know all about Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, but today's baseball stars are all guys named Rodriguez to me."
  22. ^ Andy Rooney - A no-hit game for me ( memento June 17, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), stamford times
  23. ↑ Original: "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. "
  24. ^ Andy Rooney Regrets a Racist Comment in a Recent Column , Maria Aspan, The New York Times, August 27, 2007
personal data
SURNAME Rooney, Andy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rooney, Andrew Aitken
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American radio and television journalist and author
DATE OF BIRTH January 14, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH Albany , New York , United States
DATE OF DEATH November 4, 2011
Place of death New York City , New York , United States