“Forgotten Hollywood”- The Passing of Barbara Walters…
December 30th, 2022Manny P. here…
“`Barbara Walters was a trailblazing news veteran. Known for her dogged interviewing ability, she appeared as a host of numerous television programs. Walters was a working journalist in a male-dominated industry from 1951 until her retirement in 2015.
“`During her childhood, her father managed the Latin Quarter nightclub in Boston. In 1942, her father opened the New York version of the Latin Quarter. He also worked as a Broadway producer where he produced the Ziegfeld Follies of 1943. He was the Entertainment Director for the Tropicana Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he imported the Folies Bergère stage show from Paris to the resort’s main showroom.
“`Walters began working at the NBC affiliate in New York City, WNBT-TV (now WNBC), doing publicity and writing press releases. She began producing a fifteen-minute children’s program, Ask the Camera, directed by Roone Arledge in 1953.
“`Walters began her network career on Today as a writer and segment producer of women’s interest stories. Florence Henderson, Helen O’Connell, Estelle Parsons and Lee Meriwether all had previously held her position. Walter’s popularity with viewers resulted in receiving more airtime. In 1974, she became co-host of the program, the first woman to hold such a title on an American news program. Two years later, she was hired as the first female co-anchor of a network evening news program alongside Harry Reasoner on the ABC Evening News. By all accounts, it was a contentious union. But it broke a longstanding glass ceiling.
“`In November 1977, she conducted a historic joint interview with Egypt’s president, Anwar Al Sadat, and Israel’s Prime Minister, Menachem Begin. From 1979 to 2004, Walters worked as a producer and co-host on the ABC news magazine 20/20. She also hosted the annual special, Barbara Walters’ 10 Most Fascinating People. It usually aired after the Oscars ceremony. Among the notables who were her guests… Katharine Hepburn, Fidel Castro and every sitting United States president and first lady from Richard Nixon to Barack Obama.
“`Walters created, produced and co-hosted the ABC daytime talk show The View, which she appeared from 1997 until her retirement in 2014. She continued to host a number of special reports for 20/20 as well as documentary series for Investigation Discovery. BARBARA WALTERS ->
“`Walters was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1989. On June 15, 2007, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Saturday Night Live often lampooned her in skits. She was close friends with Tom Brokaw, Woody Allen and Joan Rivers. A longtime confidante was Fox News head Roger Ailes until his death in 2017. Oprah Winfrey sites Walters as her childhood role model (along with Sidney Poitier).
“`A cultural icon, Barbara Walters was ninety-three.
Until next time> “never forget”
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