His introduction to news reporting came during the riots in Philadelphia in the 1960s. In 1967, he landed a full-time job at the CBS-owned New York radio station WCBS. In 1971, he moved to Paris, France and was living off his savings. As he ran out of money, he became a stringer for CBS News. He covered the Paris Peace Talks. In 1972, he was transferred to Saigon, to cover the Vietnam War. He spent time in Phnom Penh covering the war in Cambodia. While covering the war, he was injured by a mortar round. He had shrapnel wounds to his back and arm. In 1974, he moved to Washington, D.C. He covered the Carter campaign in 1976 and then became CBS News' White House correspondent until 1978. From 1978 to 1981, he served as principal correspondent for CBS Reports.
In 1981, he joined the staff of 60 Minutes, when Dan Rather left to replace Walter Cronkite as the anchor of the CBS Evening News. He was the first and the only male correspondent to regularly wear an earring on the show. He had his left ear pierced in 1986 and says he was inspired to do it after receiving encouragement from Liza Minnelli following an interview with the actress.
Over the course of his career, Bradley received the Emmy Award 19 times; a Peabody Award for his African AIDS report, "Death By Denial"; a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award; and the Paul White Award from the Radio and Television News Directors Association He was married to Haiti-born artist Patricia Blanchet and had homes in Woody Creek, Colorado, East Hampton, New York, and New York City, New York.
Bradley was also a jazz music enthusiast and hosted the Peabody Award-winning Jazz at Lincoln Center on National Public Radio for over a decade until just before his death. A big fan of the Neville brothers, Bradley performed on stage with the bunch. He was known as 'the fifth Neville brother' .
"Because when it gets to the point where it's not fun anymore, I've always hoped that I would have the courage to say goodbye and walk away from it." Ed Bradley
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