>> irritate people. >> osgood: andy rooney.itation. >> why is it we all look forward to the mail coming every day? something has got to be done about phone calls. you know something i don't like. chocolate chip cookies. >> osgood: throughout his long career, andy was used to having the last word. we nif him that honor now. >> i've done a lot of complaining here, but of all the things i've complained about, i can't complain about my life. and all this time i've been paid to say what is on my mind on television. you don't get any luckier in life than that. >> osgood: we have all been lucky to have had all of you in our lives. for this, we say thank you. we'll miss you, hail and farewell. with less chronic low back pain. imagine living your life with less chronic osteoarthritis pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is a non-narcotic treatment that's fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, yo

>> irritate people. >> osgood: andy rooney. it we all look forward to the mail coming every day? something has got to be done about phone calls. you know something i don't like. chocolate chip cookies. >> osgood: throughout his long career, andy was used to having the last word. we nif him that honor now. >> i've done a lot of complaining here, but of all the things i've complained about, i can't complain about my life. and all this time i've been paid to say what is on my mind on television. you don't get any luckier in life than that. >> osgood: we have all been lucky to have had all of you in our lives. for this, we say thank you. we'll miss you, hail and farewell. with less chronic low back pain. imagine living your life with less chronic osteoarthritis pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is a non-narcotic treatment that's fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual cha

andy rooney is not doing well right now. he is having a hard time. will cherish that friendship forever. he is a great man. when i made a member of the greatest generation and wrote about him he would argue with me. i don't think i member of the greatest generation. i don't even like the phrase veteran. i don't think -- finally assembled put asterisk an by your name saying everyone is a member of the greatest generation except andy rooney. >> you hold to that phrase. >> i do. my defense is very short. that is my story and i am sticking to it. i leave it at that. i used it before the book was written on the air and a lot of people responded to it and i have a lot of challenges to it. it was not a perfect generation. i don't say that but in fact that generation came out of the war, came out of the depression with their life was about deprivation and sacrifice and a lot of hope. never wining or complaining and they fought the greatest war in the history of mankind. in 1939 this country was the sixteenth military power in the world. by 1941 we were in th

. >>> "60 minutes" curmudgeon and cbs newsmaker andy rooney. he spent more than 60 years at cbs.with him in 1987 about being america's resident watchdog and resident grouch. >> i have a unique place in american television. i wish i could do this forever. i can't, though. i'm not retiring. writers don't retire. >> she signed off on "60 minutes" in october vowing to continue writing. sadly he died a month later at 92. >> i don't say this often. but thank you. >> sooner or later, one day, i'm going to say, that's it. i'm free. >> jeff conaway's long struggles came to an end in may. the actor who won our hearts in "grease" was gone. he co-start with john travolta and oliva newton-john. he starred in the original broadway. >> this is when i did "grease" on broadway. >> and when taxi premiered on tv, he was 27 playing an aspiring actor. >> your act called and said you got a big shot at a movie. 3:00 yesterday. >> yesterday? >> his struggle with drug adirection landed him on vh-1's "celebrity rehab." in his last "e.t." interview, jeff knew that he was up against tremendous odds. >> you

. >> reporter: andy rooney. >> that's what's wrong with what's going on in washington. >> reporter: appearing at the end of every 60 minutes episode for years. he always raise add ruckous. he said i have done a lot of complaining here but of all the things i have complained about, i can't complain about my life. >> you do your best. i'll do my best. >> jack lalanne didn't complain about his, either. the first to use tv to elevate the power of exercise, encouraging others to live healthy. his life lasted 96 years. for 40 years clarence clemens brought sax appeal to bruce springsteen's e street band died at the age of 69. jack kevorkian known as dr. death for his advocate of assisted suicide. he never waivered after his beliefs cost him eight years in prison. other notable deaths of 2011 include boxer joe frazier, singer amy winehouse and the first female vice presidential candidate geraldine ferrera. >> it has been a year. we forget how much we lost. >> yeah, think back to really the impact every single one of them had. >> good or bad, still an impact. yeah. >>> all right, what you got in the

even andy rooney, professional curmudgeon that he was, and i think that is something that a lot of people miss, certainly in the cable news universe today. host: next call from massachusetts, democrats line. caller: thank you. i was actually going to say robert byrd, former democratic senator from west virginia. i think during the time that he was serving, he re-created influence among the members. he was a former member of the k.k.k. so, for somebody to go from that time and become a senator and have that influence, i think is really commendable, and i think that's why it's a really significant legacy. host: thanks so much, talking about robert byrd's legacy. he's not on our list. he died last year in june of 2010. richard norton smith at the table with us this morning. next telephone call, as we talk about the significance of the political deaths in 2011. next is delaware, george. george is a republican there. good morning, george. caller: good morning to everyone. i think the most obvious death is the death of the pentagon spending bill written into it was an indefinite detention of u.

andy rooney is not doing well right now.e is having a hard time and i just will cherish that friendship forever. he is just a big man. when i made him a member of "the greatest generation" and wrote about him he would argue with me, i don't think i am a member of "the greatest generation" brokaw. i don't even like the phrase veteran. i don't think you ought to call it that. i finally said andy i'm going to put an asterisk by your name is everybody's the number of "the greatest generation" except rooney hear. >> but you still hold onto that phrase. >> i hold on to the phrase, "the greatest generation." >> i do and my defenses, that's my story and i'm sticking to it. and i will leave it at that. used it before the book was written on the air and a lot of people responded to it. i've had a lot of challenges to it and i'm prepared but it was not a perfect generation. i don't say that but in fact that generation came out of the war, came out of the depression, whatever. life was about depravation and sacrifice and not about a lot

put askers by your name in the balkans everybody is a member of the greatest generation except andy rooneyhter] >> you still hold on to that phrase? >> i hold onto the phrase -- >> the greatest generation. >> i do pick my defense, that's what store and i'm sticking to it. and leave it at that. i used to before the book was written on the air, and a lot of people responded to it. and a catalog challenges to it, and i'm prepared -- it was not a perfect generation, i don't say that, but, in fact, a generation came out of the war, came out of the depression, life was about deprivation and sacrifice and not about a lot of hope. never one, never complaining. the greatest war in history of mankind it in 1939 this country was the 16th military power in the world. by 1941 we are in the greatest war of all time, and it's in the pacific as well as in europe, north africa. it's in six of the seven continents. and one day after pearl harbor, enlisted and become warriors. and at home we stop also been production of automobiles and turnout new tanks and new weapons. they're building the b-29 down at wich