An intelligent and articulate journalist who broke stories and racial barriers, Bradley was best known for his work on CBS' stalwart news series
60 Minutes. He launched his career as a jazz DJ/news reporter for a Philadelphia radio station in 1963. By 1971, he had moved on to television as a stringer for CBS News, covering the Vietnam War and the unrest in Cambodia, where he was injured on the job. In 1976, Bradley became CBS' first black White House correspondent, but he reportedly disliked the gig and was soon back covering more exotic locales and stories. One such story was his Emmy-winning 1979 piece on Vietnamese boat refugees, which helped him land his seminal
60 Minutes gig in 1981. Sporting an earring, a beard and a booming voice, Bradley came off as cool and commanding. Over the years, he offered heady analyses of complicated stories (the Columbine massacre, the Duke University rape scandal) and hard-hitting interviews with controversial figures (pop star Michael Jackson, Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh), earning the trust of both his subjects and viewers. During his career, Bradley amassed myriad honors, including four Peabody awards, 19 Emmys, a Damon Runyon Award for career journalistic excellence and a lifetime achievement award from the National Association of Black Journalists. He had only just begun his 26th season on
60 Minutes when he died of leukemia at age 65 in November 2006.
Ed Bradley Fast Facts:
- Worked as a jazz DJ/news reporter at Philadelphia's WDAS Radio in the mid-'60s; later in his career, served as a radio host for Jazz at Lincoln Center.
- Made a full-time correspondent for CBS News in 1973, and was injured by an exploding round of ammunition while on assignment in Cambodia that same year.
- Became CBS' first black White House correspondent in 1976.
- Joined 60 Minutes as a co-editor during its 1981-82 season, and remained with the CBS news magazine until his death in 2006.
- Received a Lifetime Achievement Emmy in 2003.
- Amassed a total of 19 Emmys for broadcast journalism during his career, primarily for his work on 60 Minutes.
- Ed Bradley Relationships:
- Patricia Blanchett - Wife
- Jessica Savitch - Ex-significant Other
- Dianne Bradley - Ex-wife
- Priscilla Coolidge - Ex-wife
- Edward R. Bradley - Father
- Gladys Bradley - Mother
- College:
- Cheyney State College, Cheyney, PA (BS in Education, 1964)