Don Hewitt dies at 86

Don Hewitt was born in New York City on Dec. 14, 1922. He started working at CBS News in 1948. He would serve as the network's producer-director for the evening news for 14 years. He produced and directed during that time Edward R. Murrow's "See It Now" and "Person to Person."

In 1960 Hewitt produced and directed the first televised Presidential debate between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy. In the mid-1960s Hewitt headed a new documentary at CBS, which he executively-produced for 36 years, "60 Minutes." The show has since won 73 Emmys, 13 DuPont/ Columbia University Awards and nine Peabody Awards. He stepped down as executive producer in 2004.

Hewitt also became the executive-producer of "CBS Evening News" with Walter Cronkite who passed away last month. He chronicled his life as a newsman in the book "Tell Me a Story: Fifty Years and 60 Minutes in Television." He also was the author of "Minute by Minute," a look at the history of "60 Minutes." He was honored with the Edward R. Murrow Award from Washington State University for Lifetime Achievement in Broadcast Journalism.

He died of Pancreatic cancer Wednesday at his Bridgehampton, N.Y., home. His third wife of 30 years, Marilyn Berger and four children, his sons, Steven and Jeffrey; his daughter, Lisa Cassara; his stepdaughter, Jilian Childers Hewitt, whom Hewitt adopted; and three grandchildren survive him.