Andy Rooney grew up in Albany and attended The Albany University and Colgate Academy. In 1941, at the age of 22 he was drafted into the Army and was posted to London. There he began writing for Stars and Stripes, the US armed forces newspaper and later in the war he became one of the first US journalists to report on the Nazi concentration camps.
He began working as a broadcast journalist in 1949 for CBS and established a name for himself over many years as a correspondent and commentator. He is probably best remembered by TV audiences for his regular closing segment on 60分钟 (1968), "A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney".
He died in November 2011 at the age of 92 but had continued working until just a few weeks earlier.
While a reporter for "Stars & Stripes" during WWII, Rooney covered the incident used in 史蒂文·斯皮尔伯格's Amazing Stories: The Mission (1985) episode of 惊异传奇 (1985). The lower turret gunner of a B-17 is stuck in the ball (ventral) turret as the plane comes in for a belly (without wheels) landing. In real life, the ball gunner was killed on landing.
He won the Bronze Star for World War II reporting.
Father-in-law of Cecile Callan.
Children: Brian Rooney, Emily Rooney, Ellen Rooney and Martha Rooney.
Member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity
Retired from 60分钟 (1968) in October 2011.