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By Kristin Jensen and Julianna Goldman
June 13 (Bloomberg) -- Tim Russert, NBC News's Washington bureau chief who was renowned for his tough questioning of politicians, died of a heart attack after collapsing while at work today. He was 58.
Russert was perhaps most famous for his probing questions of politicians on the Sunday morning talk show ``Meet the Press.'' He was also a best-selling author whose books included a tribute to his father, ``Big Russ and Me.''
Former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw announced Russert's death on the air, telling viewers about Russert's childhood growing up in Buffalo, New York, his love for his family and his tremendous work ethic. Brokaw said Russert was ``one of the premier political analysts and journalists of his time.''
``The news division will not be the same,'' Brokaw said.
Russert took over as anchor of ``Meet the Press'' on Dec. 8, 1991, and since then it has become the most-watched Sunday morning interview program in the U.S. and the most-quoted news program in the world, according to the network's Web site.
He was born in Buffalo on May 7, 1950, and graduated from John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio. He earned a law degree from the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in Cleveland.
He worked for former New York Governor Mario Cuomo in Albany from 1983 to 1984 and was a special counsel in the U.S. Senate from 1977 to 1982.
He was married to journalist Maureen Orth, a writer for Vanity Fair magazine and had a son, Luke.
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