MUMBAI: American journalist and host of CBS‘ talk show ‘60 Minutes‘ Mike Wallace, aged 93, passed away at a care facility in New Canaan, Connecticut.

Wallace had a journalistic career spanning 60 years during which period he interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers and covered major events.

"All of us at CBS News and particularly at ‘60 Minutes‘ owe so much to Mike. Without him and his iconic style, there probably wouldn‘t be a ‘60 Minutes‘," said CBS News chairman and executive producer of "60 Minutes Jeff Fager.

According to AP‘s David Bauder, Wallace‘s reputation as a pitiless inquisitor was so fearsome that the words "Mike Wallace is here to see you" were the most dreaded words newsmaker could hear.

"It is with tremendous sadness that we mark the passing of Mike Wallace. His extraordinary contribution as a broadcaster is immeasurable and he has been a force within the television industry throughout its existence. His loss will be felt by all of us at CBS," said CBS Corporation president and CEO Leslie Moonves.

His last appearance on television, on 6 January in 2008, was a sit-down on "60 Minutes" with accused steroid user Roger Clemens that made front-page news.

A special programme dedicated to Wallace will be broadcast on "60 Minutes" next 15 April.

For many years, Mike Wallace unknowingly suffered from depression which worsened in 1984, after General William Westmoreland filed a $120 million libel lawsuit against Wallace and CBS over statements they made in the documentary ‘The Uncounted Enemy: A Vietnam Deception‘ (1982).

Wallace, who received a pacemaker more than 20 years ago, had a long history of cardiac care and underwent triple bypass heart surgery in January 2008.