Longtime CBS News executive Scheffler dies

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Philip Scheffler, a top executive behind the scenes at the CBS newsmagazine “60 Minutes” until his retirement in 2003, has died. He was 85.

CBS News did not immediately have a cause of death. Scheffler died Thursday at a Manhattan hospital.

Scheffler joined CBS News in 1951 and worked as a reporter and producer on various broadcasts. He became senior producer at “60 Minutes” in 1980, essentially serving as right-hand man to founding executive producer Don Hewitt. He had the day-to-day responsibility of guiding producers and reporters and was eventually named executive editor.

He’d also serve as referee during battles between the high-strung Hewitt and his all-star group of correspondents.

The show’s current executive producer, Jeff Fager, called Scheffler a “first-class journalist, an admirable human being and a great friend.”