32 Facts About Andy Rooney

Andrew Aitken Rooney was born in Albany, New York, the son of Walter Scott Rooney and Ellinor Rooney.

Andy Rooney attended The Albany Academy, and later attended Colgate University in Hamilton in central New York, where he was initiated into the Sigma Chi fraternity, before he was drafted into the United States Army in August 1941.

Andy Rooney began his career in newspapers in 1942 while in the Army where he began writing for Stars and Stripes in London.

Andy Rooney was one of six correspondents who flew on the second American bombing raid over Germany in February 1943, flying with the Eighth Air Force.

Andy Rooney was the first journalist to reach the Ludendorff Bridge after the 9th Armored Division captured it on March 7,1945.

Andy Rooney rated the capture of the bridge as one of the top five events of the entire European war, alongside D-Day.

Andy Rooney was one of the first American journalists to visit the Nazi concentration camps near the end of World War II, and one of the first to write about them.

Andy Rooney recounted that what he saw in those concentration camps made him ashamed that he had opposed the war and permanently changed his opinions about whether "just wars" exist.

Andy Rooney was decorated with the Bronze Star Medal and Air Medal for his service as a war correspondent in combat zones during the war.

Andy Rooney describes how it shaped his experience both as a writer and reporter.

Andy Rooney joined CBS in 1949 as a writer for Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, when Godfrey was at his peak on CBS radio and TV.

Andy Rooney wrote for Godfrey's daytime radio and TV show Arthur Godfrey Time.

Andy Rooney later moved on to The Garry Moore Show which became a hit program.

Andy Rooney wrote his first television essay in 1964 called "An Essay on Doors", "a longer-length precursor of the type" that he did on 60 Minutes, according to CBS News's biography of him.

From 1962 to 1968, he collaborated with CBS News correspondent Harry Reasoner, Andy Rooney writing and producing and Reasoner narrating.

CBS refused to broadcast his World War II memoir titled "An Essay on War" in 1970, so Andy Rooney quit CBS and read the opinion himself on PBS, which was his first appearance on television.

Andy Rooney rejoined CBS in 1973 to write and produce special programs.

Andy Rooney wrote the script for the 1975 documentary FDR: The Man Who Changed America.

Rooney's appearances on "A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney" often included whimsical lists, such as types of milk, bottled water brands, car brands, and sports mascots.

Andy Rooney made a number of comments which elicited strong reactions from fans and producers alike.

Andy Rooney vehemently disputed this in a 1999 interview, claiming he was instead referring to lower-income people more broadly.

Andy Rooney went on to say that Cobain's suicide made him angry.

Andy Rooney read only critical feedback from listeners without interjecting any commentary of his own.

Andy Rooney penned a regular syndicated column for Tribune Media Services that ran in many newspapers in the United States, and which has been collected in book form.

Andy Rooney won three Emmy Awards for his essays, which numbered over 1,000.

Andy Rooney was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Emmy in 2003.

Andy Rooney's renown made him a frequent target of parodies and impersonations by a diverse group of comic figures, including Frank Caliendo, Rich Little and Beavis.

Andy Rooney was married to Marguerite "Margie" Andy Rooney for 62 years, until she died of heart failure in 2004.

Andy Rooney's daughter Emily Rooney is a TV talk show host and former ABC News producer who went on to host a nightly Boston-area public affairs program, Greater Boston, on WGBH.

Andy Rooney's first daughter, Ellen Rooney, is a former film editor at ABC News and is a travel and garden photographer based in London.

Andy Rooney lived in the Rowayton section of Norwalk, Connecticut, and in Rensselaerville, New York, and was a longtime season ticket holder for the New York Giants.

Andy Rooney was hospitalized on October 25,2011, after developing postoperative complications from an undisclosed surgical procedure, and died on November 4,2011, at the age of 92, less than five weeks after his last appearance on 60 Minutes.