Mini Bio (1). Walter Cronkite was born on November 4, 1916 in St. Joseph, Missouri, USA as Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. He is known for his work on Fail Safe (2000), You Are There (1953) and The Twentieth Century (1957).He was married to Mary Elizabeth Betsy Maxwell.ather of Kathy Cronkite and Chip Cronkite. In 1997, released his autobiography, A Reporter's Life, which coincided with a two-hour TV special, Cronkite Remembers (1997), in which he reminisced about his years as a reporter. A week later, an eight-hour version aired on The Discovery Channel.