CBS News’ 60 Minutes producer Henry Radliffe II was a producer for the popular new program for the past 26 years. Radliffe passed last week after battling colon cancer since 2008.
Radliffe was born January 1, 1949 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Radliffe attended Purdue University for a spell, and also studied at the Universidad Iberoamericano in Mexico City. He eventually graduated in 1971 from Tufts University with a bachelor’s degree in international relations, which helped form his ongoing interest in foreign affairs. Radliffe then attended Tufts’ Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, earning his masters in 1973.
His career in news began as a reporter for the KGW-TV network in Portland, Ore. He headed east to Washington, D.C. to work as an assistant editor for CBS News. After a short stint with ABC News as a producer, he joined CBS News in New York to work for celebrated journalist Walter Cronkite and his evening news program in 1979.
Radliffe remained with the network from that point on. In 1986, he was named the network’s bureau chief for its London branch, the first African-American bureau chief for the network. While there, Radliffe was responsible for crafting stories focused on the conflict in the Middle East, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, and the growth of terrorism across Europe.
Two years later, he returned stateside and joined 60 Minutes as a producer. For the next two and a half decades, Radliffe masterminded many of the series Emmy-nominated programs. The program won a Peabody Award, the industry’s top honor, behind Radliffe’s work on a story about a U.S. Gulf War fighter who was the only person disciplined in a friendly fire situation.
In 2013, Radliffe and his fellow associate producers took home an Emmy for Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a News Story in a News Magazine for their “Aleppo” story segment.
Radliffe is survived by his brother, Brian, and sister, Betty Jo Williams.
He was 66.
(Photo: CBS News)
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