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Charles Collingwood was a television newscaster.
Born in Three Rivers, Michigan, Collingwood graduated from Deep Springs College and Cornell University and in 1939 received a Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford University. After working in London for United Press, Collingwood was hired by Edward R. Murrow during the Second World War and quickly became known as an urbane and spontaneously eloquent on-air journalist. He was part of a group of early television journalists that included Walter Cronkite, Eric Sevareid, and Murrow himself.
One of his first roles on television was as host of the CBS documentary series Adventure, produced in collaboration with the American Museum of Natural History. He went on to become chief correspondent of CBS and host of its Eyewitness to History series. He was a leading figure in CBS's expansion to include international coverage. He reported from the Normandy invasion, Vietnam, the White House, and numerous other sites.
In the late 1960s, Collingwood was the first U.S. reporter allowed into North Vietnam, which was at war with U.S.-backed South Vietnam and the American troops stationed there. The visit was largely the inspiration for Collingwood's 1970 espionage novel, "The Defector." The book received critical praise for its merits as a thriller and for its insights into the complexities of the Vietnam War.
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