CBS Journalist George Crile Dies At 61

Award-Winning Journalist's Foreign Coverage Broke Ground

(CBS) 
Crile’s reports also include the topics of Three Mile Island, the battle of the Panama Canal, U.S. Cuban policy, the Sandinistas, the U.S. Saudi connection, the Gulf War, the killers in Rwanda, the KGB and the world of Soviet intelligence.

Crile joined CBS News in 1976 to produce “The CIA’s Secret Army,” a trail-blazing documentary for “CBS Reports” that chronicled the secret wars on Castro after the Bay of Pigs. He produced several other documentaries for the unit, including “The Battle for South Africa,” which won him a Peabody and an Emmy Award.

Crile also produced for CBS Reports “The Uncounted Enemy: A Vietnam Deception” with Correspondent Mike Wallace about the undercounting of enemy troops in Vietnam. Gen. Westmoreland sued CBS News and Mike Wallace for libel, but the general abruptly withdrew the suit during the 1984 trial.

In 1985, Don Hewitt, then the executive producer of60 Minutes , hired Crile to produce stories for Wallace, Harry Reasoner and Bradley. Crile was chosen to help start 60 Minutes II in 1999. “George Crile was one of the finest reporters who ever worked at CBS News,” said 60 Minutes Executive Producer Jeff Fager, who founded60 Minutes II. “He took on difficult assignments and always came back with more than anybody expected. We will miss his great talent, and his wonderful friendship.”

His last on-air appearance was on 60 Minutes II in September 2002 for a piece he produced for Dan Rather. In “The Big Lie,” Crile reported how much of the Muslim world at that time believed the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were the result of a Jewish conspiracy.

Rather said, “George Crile was a masterful journalist: he could and did report, write and broadcast at a consistently high level. Besides that, he was a kind and gentle man who loved mentoring younger journalists.”

“He was courageous, resourceful, a superb reporter and a dear friend,” said Wallace.

Before joining CBS News, Crile was Washington editor of Harper’s magazine. In addition to Harper’s, his articles appeared in other publications, including Washington Monthly, The New York Times and The Washington Post. He began his journalism career working for the Washington columnists Drew Pearson and Jack Anderson. Crile also worked as a pentagon correspondent for Ridder Newspapers.

Crile was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on March 5, 1945 to an old and prominent American family that included a grandfather, Dr. George Crile, who was a pioneering surgeon who co-founded the Cleveland Clinic. Crile’s father, Dr. George Crile, Jr., was an important surgeon at the world-renowned hospital who was famous for challenging unnecessary surgery. Crile attended local schools and was graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. He then attended the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Crile served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve as a lance corporal from 1968 to 1974.

Crile is survived by his wife, Susan Lyne, the president of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia; four daughters, Katy, Molly, Susan and Jane; and two sisters, Ann Esselstyn and Susan Crile. He was previously married to Anne Patten.