Don Hewitt - 60 Minutes creator, dies.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

'60 Minutes' Creator Don Hewitt Passes Away NEW YORK (CBS) ― 

"60 Minutes"spokesman Kevin Tedesco confirmed broadcat pioneer Don Hewitt has died. He passed away Wednesday morning in his Bridgehampton home at the age of 86.

Earlier this year, Hewitt was diagnosed with a small, contained tumor.

When it came to broadcast journalism, Hewitt was a pioneer, helping create the blueprint for television news.

He led an illustrious career that began in 1948. That's when he became director of the first CBS Evening News show. He directed many other programs, including Edward R. Murrow's signature show, "See It Now."

Hewitt took on producing duties as well, directing and producing the famous presidential debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon.

"I felt like a referee at a fight," Hewitt said in 2000. "I was giving them their last minute instructions before they went to their corners and came out swinging."

Hewitt advised Nixon to use makeup, but he declined, losing the debate when he appeared tired and pale on television, and eventually losing the election.

A couple of years later, Hewitt became the first executive producer of the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite. He's credited with coining the term "anchorman" and creating the look that for decades defined how television news was presented. In fact, Hewitt's most recent public appearance was in July, when he attended Cronkite's memorial service in Manhattan.

But his greatest creation was no doubt "60 Minutes," the show that changed the face of broadcast journalism.

"60 Minutes" was the first news program to become a top-ten television show. It regularly made headlines with stories ranging from hard-hitting investigative pieces to interviews with the famous and notorious. The show won every award in the book.

Hewitt has been honored with the second annual Lifetime Achievement Emmy presented by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. In 1995, he was awarded the Founders Emmy by the International Council of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

He's also won the Director's Guild Association Honor for contributions to American culture (June 2002), the 2001 Carr Van Anda Award for his contribution to journalism, bestowed by the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University, and the 2000 Fred Friendly First Amendment Award from Quinnipiac College.

Hewitt is the author of Tell Me a Story: Fifty Years and 60 Minutes in Television (PublicAffairs, April 2001), in which chronicles his life as a newsman. He is also the author of the book Minute by Minute (Random House, 1985).

Stay with WCBSTV.com for more on this developing story.

[Phony Moderate]

RIP Don Hewitt.