Word: barbara
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With Seles, Barbara lobs the first one in: "If you could sum up this year in one word, what would it be?" The interview goes smoothly, with Walters only occasionally referring to her trademark index cards. But because Seles arrived late, some New York City rush-hour-traffic noise creeps onto the tape and forces the crew to repeat one series of questions...
People don't forget. Two weeks ago, Christopher Reeve made his first public appearance since his riding accident at a dinner for the Creative Coalition, the educational organization he heads, and honoree Robin Williams told the audience he was disappointed that Barbara, who was also in attendance, had not asked the paralyzed actor, "What kind of a bush would you be?" The answer, said Williams, would have been "tumbleweed." Both Reeve and Walters laughed...
...wife chose Walters after being pursued by virtually every interviewer in the business. "Our main goal was to get a message out about what a spinal-cord injury is," Reeve says. "We wanted to make sure that our story was not trivialized or sensationalized. I felt after watching Barbara Walters for so many years that she would be the best qualified to help us with that...
...what makes Barbara run, or at least walk? She has had to prove herself constantly--to her nightclub-impresario father, to the male-dominated hierarchy at NBC and later ABC, to the critics who don't think news and entertainment should be mixed. "I don't see why not," says Walters, who knew Milton Berle when she was a little girl and dated Roy Cohn in college. "Edward R. Murrow interviewed celebrities." Then there was the cbs producer who told her back in 1957, "You're a marvelous girl, but stay out of television." The producer...
Downs, who has worked with Walters off and on for 33 years, thinks she has endured because of her interviewing technique. "Barbara has operated on the premise that her first allegiance is to the person tuning in. She represents the viewer and does it without hostility." Others who have worked with her--and against her--credit her fierce competitiveness. Walters' persistence in cultivating contacts and interview subjects is legendary; she writes notes, sends gifts, makes phone calls and generally puts on a full-court press. "She has the best public manners of anybody I know," says a colleague. "She knows...