“Mike Wallace (signed) and his Controversial Interviews” (October 10, 1957)
by Eddie Germano (1924 – )
14 x 16.5, ink and wash on board
Coppola Collection

A native Bostonian, Germano became a full-time cartoonist in 1948, at age 24, after serving in WWII. Among other positions, he worked as the editorial and sports cartoonist for the Brockton Enterprise from 1963-1990.

Germano handled the TV beat for a few years. He (or his editor) was able to get hand-written notes from the featured subjects to integrate into the 3-column Sunday illustrations.

The Mike Wallace Interview debuted on Sunday April 28, 1957 on ABC. Wallace interviewed senators, authors, actresses, politicians, and a Klansman. Controversial nearly from the start, it drew lawsuits, network retractions, charges of censorship and more, all in the span of 15 months. A year in, on March 17th, 1958 ABC announced that The Mike Wallace Interview would be discontinued after its April 19th broadcast. And, the plot thickens. On April 18th, The New York Times reported that Wallace would present a thirteen-week series around the themes of “Survival and Freedom” beginning April 27th. Production costs would be paid by the “Fund for the Republic” and ABC would donate the airtime, Sundays from 10-10:30 PM. The controversies, delayed and cancelled interviews, continued.

I have a draft copy of the cartoon, which is interesting to compare.