Under his expert producer's eye, 60 Minutes became not just a consistent time slot winner for CBS but also an occasional chronicler of the behind-the-scenes of showbiz for the consumer audience. For instance, back in January 1975, Sue Mengers was being touted as Hollywood's hottest agent, a title that was sanctified when Don Hewitt profiled the agent on 60 Minutes. The segment featured the agent fielding phone calls from the rich and famous. “Hi, Gore,” (As in Vidal) “Hi, Mick.” (As in Jagger) (Mike Wallace’s last question to her was, “Do you ever pinch yourself and say, ‘Who, me?’” "Yeah, a lot,” Mengers replied. “And then I say, ‘Who deserves it more?’”)
Of course, 60 Minutes did softball celebrity profiles mixed in with those hard-hitting Hewitt-ordered investigations that made mincemeat of shameless businessmen and lawyers. (Remember Marty Short's parodies of their denials with that sweaty and quivering upper lip?) One of the few exceptions was 1991 when Steven Spielberg appeared on a 60 Minutes segment devoted to Hook in which he dissed Julia Roberts’ onset behavior. It was a seismic violation of pre-pic publicity and showbiz protocol.read more
