38 Facts About Ed Bradley

Ed Bradley was best known for his reporting on 60 Minutes and CBS News.

Ed Bradley moved to New York City in 1967 and worked for WCBS as a radio news reporter.

Four years later, Ed Bradley moved to Paris, France, where he covered the Paris Peace Accords as a stringer for CBS News.

Ed Bradley moved to Washington, DC following the wars and covered Jimmy Carter's first presidential campaign.

Ed Bradley was born on June 22,1941, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Ed Bradley's parents divorced when he was young and he was raised in a poor household by his mother, Gladys Gaston Ed Bradley, and spent summers with his father in Detroit.

Ed Bradley attended high school at Mount Saint Charles Academy in Rhode Island and Saint Thomas More Catholic Boys School in Philadelphia, graduating from the latter in 1959.

Ed Bradley received a Bachelor of Science degree in education from Cheyney State College in 1964.

Ed Bradley began his career as a math teacher in Philadelphia in 1964.

Ed Bradley was fluent in French, and while there was hired by CBS News as a stringer.

Ed Bradley transferred to Saigon in 1972 to report on the Vietnam War and Cambodian Civil War, as well as reporting on the Paris Peace Accords.

Ed Bradley was one of the last American journalists to be evacuated in 1975 during the Fall of Saigon.

Ed Bradley was awarded Alfred I duPont and George Polk awards for his coverage in Vietnam and Cambodia.

In 1976, Ed Bradley was assigned to cover Jimmy Carter's 1976 presidential campaign, as well the Republican and Democratic national conventions, covering the latter events until 1996.

Ed Bradley disliked the position at the White House and being tied to the movements of the president.

Also in 1976, Ed Bradley began anchoring the Sunday night broadcasts of the CBS Evening News, holding that position until 1981.

Ed Bradley won the first of 20 News and Documentary Emmy Awards in his career for his 1979 documentary "The Boat People", reporting on Vietnamese refugees escaping the country via boat or ship, at one point wading into the water to assist in the rescue of the refugees.

In 1986, Ed Bradley interviewed singer Liza Minnelli and expressed interest in wearing an earring.

Minnelli gave him a diamond stud after the interview, which Ed Bradley began wearing on air.

Ed Bradley was the first male reporter to consistently wear an earring on air, "challenging the notions of journalistic propriety," according to Robb Report writer Kristopher Fraser.

Ed Bradley repeatedly turned down offers to anchor the CBS Evening News in the late 1980s, preferring instead to continue working on 60 Minutes.

Ed Bradley's reporting in the 1990s included such topics as Chinese forced labor camps, Russian military installations, and the effects of nuclear weapons testing near Semey, Kazakhstan.

Ed Bradley profiled numerous people, including Thomas Quasthoff, Muhammad Ali, and Mike Tyson.

Ed Bradley won a series of awards for his reporting that decade, including Emmys, duPont citations, and a Peabody Award.

Ed Bradley interviewed such people as Bob Dylan and Neil Armstrong, and conducted the only television interview with Timothy McVeigh.

Ed Bradley reported approximately 500 stories for 60 Minutes over his 25-year tenure with the program, more than any other correspondent over the same time period.

In 2005, Ed Bradley was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Association of Black Journalists.

Ed Bradley was diagnosed with lymphocytic leukemia in his later years, keeping the illness secret from many, including colleagues such as Mike Wallace.

Ed Bradley died at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan on November 9,2006, at the age of 65.

Ed Bradley's reporting on psychiatric hospitals in the US prompted federal investigations into the largest chains, and his reporting on the Duke lacrosse team has been credited with ensuring the accused had a fair trial.

Ed Bradley opened himself to the world and dared the world to turn him away.

Ed Bradley became well-known for his style on air, both for his demeanor and his fashion sense.

Ed Bradley began wearing the earring during the 1980s during a time when it was uncommon for men in America to do so.

Ed Bradley was named one of the "100 Outstanding American Journalists in the last 100 years" in 2012 by faculty at New York University.

Ed Bradley was fond of jazz and hosted Jazz at Lincoln Center on National Public Radio.

Ed Bradley performed with Jimmy Buffett and the Neville Brothers and was referred to as "the fifth Neville brother" by the group.

Ed Bradley was an outdoorsman, and often hiked or skied in his free time.

Ed Bradley married three times, to Diane Jefferson, Priscilla Coolidge, and Patricia Blanchet.