US journalist, commentator Andy Rooney dies at 92

Nov 5, 2011, 19:07 GMT

Washington - Veteran US journalist and commentator Andy Rooney, 92, died on Friday due to complications after minor surgery, US media reported Saturday.

Rooney, a household name in the United States, was best known for his witty commentaries that, for more than three decades, wrapped up CBS' weekly 60 Minutes news and culture show.

Rooney had always considered himself a writer who appeared on television, having begun his career in print journalism during World War II at Stars and Stripes, a news publication for the US military.

Rooney was one of the first US reporters to cover the Nazi death camps, and he reported from Omaha Beach after D Day, according to CBS.

After the war he found work as a television script writer, later becoming a writer and producer at CBS and winning a Peabody Award.

Author of several books, he won four Emmy awards. He was at times controversial and was once briefly suspended from CBS for saying that 'too much alcohol, too much food, drugs, homosexual unions, cigarettes' were known to lead to 'premature death.'

He sometimes criticized the medium that put him in the spotlight, CBS noted in a video piece on its website.

'Considering how mediocre television is most of the time, it's just amazing how many awards have been given to it for excellence,' he once said.

He made his final appearance on 60 Minutes last month.

'I've done a lot of complaining here,' he said. 'But of all the things I've complained about, I can't complain about my life.'