Barbara Walters Interview | Archive of American Television
from the Museum of Broadcast Communications Encyclopedia of Television
BARBARA                WALTERS. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A., 25 September                1931. Educated at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York,                B.A. in English, 1953. Married: 1) Robert Katz (annulled), children:                Jacquieline Dena; 2) Lee Guber, 1963 (divorced, 1976); 3) Merv Adelson,                1986 (divorced, 1992). Worked as a secretary at an advertising agency;                assistant to the publicity director, NBC's WRCA-TV, New York; producer                and writer, WRCA; writer and producer, WPIX Radio and CBS-TV; worked                for a theatrical public- relations firm; hired for NBC's Today show,                1961; regular panel member, 1964-74; co-host, 1974-76; moderator                of the syndicated program Not For Women Only, 1974-76; newscaster,                the ABC Evening News, 1976-78; host,The Barbara Walters                Special, since 1976; co-host, ABC-TV news show 20/20, since 1979. L.H.D.: Ohio State University, 1971, Marymount College,                1975, and Wheaton College, 1983. Recipient: National Association                of Television Program Executives Award, 1975; International Radio                and Television Society's Broadcaster of the Year, 1975; Emmy Awards,                1975, 1980, 1982, 1983; Lowell Thomas Award, 1990; International                Women's Media Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, 1992; Academy                of Television Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame, 1990.
Although                Barbara Walters would later downplay her relationship with the feminist                movement, her early career is marked by a number of moves that were                in part responsible for breaking down the all-male facade of U.S.                network news. A Today Show regular for 15 years, including                two years as the show's first official female co-host, she was a                visible presence in, at first, the program's "feature" segments,                then going on to covering "hard news"--including serving as part                of the NBC News team sent to cover President Richard Nixon's historic                visit to the People's Republic of China in 1972. Her most controversial                "first" involved her decision in 1976 to leave Today to co-anchor                the ABC Evening News with Harry Reasoner (the first time                a woman was allowed the privileged position of network evening anchor)                for a record-breaking seven-figure salary. Public reaction to both                her salary and approach to the news, which critics claimed led to                the creeping "Infotainment" mentality which threatens traditional                (male) reporting, undercut ABC News ratings, and she was quickly                bumped from the anchor desk.
After                this public relations disaster, Walters undertook a comeback on                ABC with The Barbara Walters Specials, an occasional series                of interviews with heads of state, newsmakers, sports figures and                Hollywood celebrities that have consistently topped the ratings                and made news in themselves. In 1977, she arranged the first joint                interview with Egypt's President Anwar Sadat and Israel's Prime                Minister Menachem Begin; she has since interviewed six U.S. Presidents,                as well as political figures as diverse as British Prime Minister                Margaret Thatcher, U.S. presidential contender Ross Perot, and Russian                Federation President Boris Yeltsin. In 1984, ABC returned her to                an anchor desk as co-host (with Hugh Downs) of the newsmagazine 20/20.
Despite her status as both national celebrity and the recipient                of numerous awards from journalists, television broadcasters and                women's groups, public reaction to Walters has remained ambivalent,                perhaps as a result of changing notions of the nature of "news"                in the television era. Walters's interviews have not been limited                to figures embroiled in the matters covered by "hard news" subjects                like politics and war; many of her more popular specials (and 20/20 segments) have been celebrity interviews and chats with more                tawdry news figures. Certain memorable moments--such as the time                she asked actress Katherine Hepburn what kind of tree she would                like to be--have worked to undercut her image as a serious journalist.                And the late Gilda Radner's classic parody of Walters's distinctive                style as "Baba Wawa" on Saturday Night Live remains popular                as a timeless critique of the cult of personality in television                journalism.
Walters                began her career in broadcast journalism as a writer for CBS News.                She also served as the youngest producer with NBC's New York station,                WNBC-TV, before joining Today. After less than a year as a writer                for Today, she was promoted to reporter-at-large (or, as then-host                Hugh Downs described her, "the new 'Today girl'"), although gender                politics at the time severely constrained her role. According to                Walters, she was not allowed to write for the male correspondents                or to ask questions in "male-dominated" areas such as economics                or politics, and she was forbidden to interview guests on-camera                until all of the men on Today had finished asking questions.                Thanks in part to Walters's contributions, these commandments no                longer apply.
-Susan                McLeland