Edward Rudolph "Ed" Bradley, Jr. (June 22, 1941 â€" November 9, 2006)
was an American journalist, best known for 26 years of award-winning
work on the CBS News television program 60 Minutes. During his earlier
career he also covered the fall of Saigon, was the first black
television correspondent to cover the White House, and anchored his
own news broadcast, CBS Sunday Night News with Ed Bradley. He received
several awards for his work including the Peabody, the National
Association of Black Journalists Lifetime Achievement Award, Radio
Television Digital News Association Paul White (journalist) Award and
19 Emmy Awards.Bradley was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His
parents divorced when he was two years old, after which he was raised
by his mother, Gladys, who worked two jobs to make ends meet. Bradley,
who was referred to with the childhood name of "Butch Bradley," was
able to see his father in Detroit, in the summertime, who had a
vending machine business and owned a restaurant. When he was nine, his
mother enrolled him in the Holy Providence School, an all-black
Catholic boarding school run by the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament
at Cornwells Heights, Pennsylvania. He attended Mount Saint Charles
Academy, in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. He graduated in 1959 from Saint
Thomas More Catholic Boys High School in West Philadelphia and then
another historically black school, Cheyney State College (now Cheyney
University of Pennsylvania) in Cheyney, Pennsylvania, graduating in
1964 with a degree in education. His first job was teaching sixth
grade at the William B. Mann Elementary School in Philadelphia's
Wynnefield community. While he was teaching, he moonlighted at the old
WDAS studios on Edgley Drive in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park, working
for free and, later, for minimum wage. He programmed music, read news,
and covered basketball games and other sports.Bradley's introduction
to news reporting came at WDAS-FM during the riots in Philadelphia in
the 1960s. In 1967 he landed a full-time job at the CBS-owned New York
City radio station WCBS. In 1971, he moved to Paris, France. Initially
living off his savings, he eventually ran out of money and began
working as a stringer for CBS News, covering the Paris Peace Talks. In
1972 he volunteered to be transferred to Saigon to cover the Vietnam
War, as well as spending time in Phnom Penh covering the war in
Cambodia. It was there that he was injured by a mortar round,
receiving shrapnel wounds to his back and arm.
was an American journalist, best known for 26 years of award-winning
work on the CBS News television program 60 Minutes. During his earlier
career he also covered the fall of Saigon, was the first black
television correspondent to cover the White House, and anchored his
own news broadcast, CBS Sunday Night News with Ed Bradley. He received
several awards for his work including the Peabody, the National
Association of Black Journalists Lifetime Achievement Award, Radio
Television Digital News Association Paul White (journalist) Award and
19 Emmy Awards.Bradley was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His
parents divorced when he was two years old, after which he was raised
by his mother, Gladys, who worked two jobs to make ends meet. Bradley,
who was referred to with the childhood name of "Butch Bradley," was
able to see his father in Detroit, in the summertime, who had a
vending machine business and owned a restaurant. When he was nine, his
mother enrolled him in the Holy Providence School, an all-black
Catholic boarding school run by the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament
at Cornwells Heights, Pennsylvania. He attended Mount Saint Charles
Academy, in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. He graduated in 1959 from Saint
Thomas More Catholic Boys High School in West Philadelphia and then
another historically black school, Cheyney State College (now Cheyney
University of Pennsylvania) in Cheyney, Pennsylvania, graduating in
1964 with a degree in education. His first job was teaching sixth
grade at the William B. Mann Elementary School in Philadelphia's
Wynnefield community. While he was teaching, he moonlighted at the old
WDAS studios on Edgley Drive in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park, working
for free and, later, for minimum wage. He programmed music, read news,
and covered basketball games and other sports.Bradley's introduction
to news reporting came at WDAS-FM during the riots in Philadelphia in
the 1960s. In 1967 he landed a full-time job at the CBS-owned New York
City radio station WCBS. In 1971, he moved to Paris, France. Initially
living off his savings, he eventually ran out of money and began
working as a stringer for CBS News, covering the Paris Peace Talks. In
1972 he volunteered to be transferred to Saigon to cover the Vietnam
War, as well as spending time in Phnom Penh covering the war in
Cambodia. It was there that he was injured by a mortar round,
receiving shrapnel wounds to his back and arm.
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