BARBARA WALTERS: TELL ME EVERYTHING
It is a bit surprising to me to learn that Barbara Walters, one of the most recognized and well-known journalists, did not set out that way. That is just one of the many revelations about the late television news anchor in Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything. The documentary covers the length and breadth of Walters' career and life, showing that she was inspirational, aspirational and when needed, ruthless.
In not strict chronological order, Tell Me Everything reveals how Walters ended up being the First Lady of Journalism. She, as stated, did not set out to be on camera. Originally a Today Show writer, she was bumped up to being on camera thanks to her willingness to work for less money. She became a Today Girl, covering women's features. In other words, segments that the male writers, directors, producers and hosts thought were light and simple.
When bumped up to being one of the Today Show hosts, veteran Today Show host Frank McGee was openly hostile. He insisted that if they did joint interviews, she would have to wait until his third question to get involved in the interview. Walters' way around that was to do interviews outside the studio and away from the first of three people she defined as bullies.
It took McGee literally dropping dead before she could have more sway on NBC. The lucrative offer to co-host the ABC Evening News had her work with the second bully, Harry Reasoner. He was unreasonable in his dislike of having any co-host, let alone a woman. Despite her growing power and popularity with audiences, ABC was no paradise. The news magazine 20/20 continued her brand of interviews which blended the personal and professional of the interviewees. Walters on 20/20 could have celebrities or dictators. She could get almost anyone for a sit-down chat through her fierce tenacity.
What she could not get was even the modicum of respect from the third bully, ABC Evening News anchor Peter Jennings. He would constantly interrupt her and thought, like many of his colleagues, that celebrity interviews were not "real interviews", let alone real news. Walters was also leery of fellow journalist Diane Sawyer. She was civil to Sawyer, but saw menace from the younger woman, whom Walters would refer to as "the blonde goddess".
Walters' personal life was not without its adventures. After three miscarriages, she adopted a daughter, Jackie, with whom she had a fraught and at times tumultuous relationship. She dated such figures as future Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and even semi-closeted lawyer Roy Cohn. She contemplated marrying him despite his homosexuality and general loathsomeness. Walters, however, was always grateful for Cohn's help when her father faced financial hardships. She also had an affair with Ed Brooke, a married U.S. Senator who also happened to be black.
Walters was almost always "the first woman to do XYZ", and she had one more pioneering act. That was the creation of the female-centric chat show The View. Two to three generations of female news anchors and reports all have Barbara Walters to thank for their place in the sun.
Tell Me Everything does a good job of summing up Barbara Walters' life and career. Jackie Jesko's documentary is helped by none other than Walters herself. We have many audio clips of Walters discussing her life professional and personal. "I'm a good editor. That's what I do best," Walters remarks early in Tell Me Everything. She might not have seen herself as a great beauty. She made up for it with a strong, at times belligerent determination. Oprah Winfrey, who both modeled her career on Walters and was interviewed by her, notes that she had a good run to get Monica Lewinsky to sit with her. That is, as Winfrey notes, until Walters sweetened her offer by letting Lewinsky know that she could give her Good Morning America as well as her own two-hour special. She also let Lewinsky sell her story overseas, provided that Walters got her first at no cost.
Walters was aware of her own flaws, particularly her inability to pronounce the letter R. We do get a brief clip of Gilda Radner's spoof of Walters as "Baba Wawa". She also knew that ultimately another interviewee was right. Tell Me Everything does not, to my recollection, mention the mockery Walters got when she allegedly asked Katharine Hepburn if she were a tree, what kind of tree would she be. In reality, this question was taken out of context, as Walters was merely following up to Hepburn's statement that she was strong like a tree. However, I digress.
Hepburn firmly believed that marriage and career did not mix with children and motherhood. Walters, to her disappointment, found that she was too focused on her career to be the mother that she might have been if not for her dogged pursuit to be the top interviewer. Commenting on the conflict, Walters' protégé Cynthia McFadden said that Walters' daughter Jackie had a father and had a governess.
She did face obstacles and pushed back against them. Walters beat out her rivals Walter Cronkite and John Chancellor to land interviews with Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menahem Begin. She also had the backing of ABC executive Roone Arlidge, whom she called her savior.
Walters, however, was not above using her connections to her beau, Virginia Senator John Warner, to get political figures to speak to her. She also could be friendly but able to go for the kill. Bette Midler, one of the many people interviewed for Tell Me Everything, remarked, "I considered her a friend, but I also considered her a journalist". Walters could be pleasant but also ask very intrusive questions.
8/10
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