The Toronto-born Safer, with more than 50 years in broadcasting, was a 60 Minutes correspondent for all but two of the newsmagazine’s 48-year history.

In a photo taken July 22, 1975, Morley Safer interviews Betty Ford at the White House for the 1975 report “The First Lady.”

“Morley has had a brilliant career as a reporter and as one of the most significant figures in CBS News history, on our broadcast and in many of our lives,” said Jeff Fager, the executive producer of 60 Minutes. “Morley’s curiosity, his sense of adventure and his superb writing, all made for exceptional work done by a remarkable man.”

Mike Wallace, Dan Rather, Morley Safer, and Don Hewitt of 60 Minutes, November 6, 1975.

Morley Safer in his office, April 21, 1980. 

60 Minutes correspondents (front row, left to right) Morley Safer, Mike Wallace and Ed Bradley, (back row, left to right) Steve Kroft, Lesley Stahl and broadcast commentator Andy Rooney in August 1998.

Here, Safer plays pool during an interview with actor and comedian Jackie Gleason.

Safer’s profile of Gleason, “The Great One,” aired on Oct. 28, 1984.

Safer’s profile on actor and comedian Jack Lemmon, pictured here, aired January 5, 1986.

Photograph taken during an interview with actress Katharine Hepburn.

Safer’s profile ”Hepburn” aired on January 14, 1979.

André the Giant, left, and Morley Safer.

Safer met André while reporting the 1985 story “The Bigger They Are...” about the Human Growth Hormone.

In 1995, Bill Clinton met with all five 60 Minutes correspondents to answer questions about his decision to send U.S. troops to Bosnia for the report “The President.”

Back row, left to right: Ed Bradley, Morley Safer and Steve Kroft.

Front row, left to right: Lesley Stahl and Mike Wallace.

“The President” aired on Dec. 10, 1995.

In 2011, over 18.5 million people watched Morley Safer ask Ruth Madoff how she could not have known her husband Bernard was running a billion-dollar Ponzi scheme.

In the only interview Ruth Madoff has given about her husband’s crimes, she told Safer she and Bernard were so distraught over the burden of those crimes that they attempted suicide together.

The two-time Oscar-winner and grande dame of American film and stage met with Morley Safer for a rare interview to discuss acting, her career and her role as British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Streep and Safer are pictured here in rural Massachusetts outside an historic home in 2011.

Morley Safer and his wife, Jane Safer.

Morley Safer on assignment at Miami Beach’s Art Basel for the 2012 report ”Art Market.”

The report aired almost 20 years after his controversial report, ”Yes, But is it Art?” which took a critical eye to the contemporary art world.

Morley Safer interviews then-Texas Governor Ann Richards for the 1991 report “Texas Rules.”

Al Gore, left, and Morley Safer.

Morley Safer with Italian operatic tenor Luciano Pavarotti, center. Safer’s profile of the singer aired November 4, 1979.

Morley Safer with his wife, Jane, and their dog.

Country singer Dolly Parton gives Morley Safer’s face a squeeze.

Safer’s profile “Dolly” aired April 5, 2009.

The Toronto-born Safer was the first Saigon bureau chief for CBS News, and his controversial 1965 report on U.S. Marines burning the Vietnamese village of Cam Ne, filed August 5 of that year, was a turning point in attitudes toward the war.

Some believe this report freed other journalists to stop censoring themselves and tell the raw truth about war.

His report, broadcast on the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite, was an uncensored look at the war in Vietnam.

In 2011, Safer sat down with 60 Minutes Overtime to talk about his watershed report.

Morley Safer soaks his feet while on assignment in South Vietnam for CBS News in 1965.

Safer won every major award, including the Paul White Award from the Radio and Television News Directors Association in 1966 when he was only 35 -- an award usually given for lifetime achievement. The other awards given to Safer over his long career include three Peabody awards, three Overseas Press Club awards, two George Polk Memorial awards, a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism first prize for domestic television, the Fred Friendly First Amendment award, 12 Emmys and a Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French Government.

Safer’s last report for 60 Minutes -- his 919th -- was a profile of Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, pictured here. The report, ”Starchitect,” aired on March 13, 2016.