Happy birthday, Charles Collingwood

It is the birthday of broadcast journalist Charles Collingwood (1917), who was among a group of early television and radio reporters who were recruited by CBS broadcast news pioneer Edward R. Murrow to cover Europe before and during World War II for the network. Most were print journalists who were working for newspapers or wire services. They became known in broadcast circles as Murrow's Boys. The group included such broadcast luminaries as William L. Shirer, Eric Sevareid, Howard K. Smith, Winston Burdett, and Richard C. Hottelet. Mary Marvin Breckinridge was the only woman in the group. Collingwood covered the Blitz and battles in North Åfrica and France (including the invasion of Normandy) during the war. Later, he was the host of a CBS documentary series Adventure. He also covered the White House, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the Vietnam War. He traveled to North Vietnam during the war, and later wrote an espionage novel The Defector (1970) based on the trip. Collingwood had blond, curly hair and a handsome face, plus he was an impeccable dresser. Murrow nicknamed him Bonnie Prince Charlie.