Andy Rooney to No Longer Regularly Appear on '60 Minutes'

Legendary curmudgeon Andy Rooney will no longer regularly appear on CBS newsmagazine 60 Minutes, according to a report.

TVNewser reported on Tuesday that Rooney, 93, will make his last scheduled appearance on this Sunday's program. The Web site reported that CBS News is expected to confirm the announcement soon.

The New York Times' television reporter Brian Stetler confirmed the report and wrote on Twitter that Rooney would address the job change during his Sunday commentary.

Rooney joined CBS News in 1949 as a writer for Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, but didn't begin his famous end of program commentary until 1979. Rooney often offered grumpy, yet hilarious views on modern topics of interest - often eschewing popular opinion for a contrarian point of view.

The end of his regular appearances means that he hypothetically could still occasionally appear on the program, but his television time has already diminished greatly over the years. Rooney still works out of a CBS office six to seven days a week, but his packages have rarely made it into the program in his later years.

In April of this year, The Albany Times-Union wrote a piece entitled, Where is Andy Rooney? that took a look at why Rooney hadn't been appearing on the program frequently.

It's realistic to say he's slowing down, Susie Bieber, Rooney's longtime producer, told the newspaper. People call and ask why he's not on every week and I say, 'He's 92.' I don't know of anyone else who's doing what he's doing at 92.

She told the newspaper at the time that she hoped Rooney would be allowed to leave on his own terms, but that eventually it might be out of his hands.

Rooney won three Emmys for his work on the television program, including a Lifetime Achievement award in 2003.