MUSEUM OF TELEVISION & RADIO SEMINAR SERIES, THE: TWO EVENINGS WITH BARBARA WALTERS, SEMINAR NO. 1: THE ART OF INTERVIEWING CELEBRITIES {MARK GOODSON SEMINAR SERIES} {LONG VERSION}

Summary

One of two seminars conducted by The Museum of Television & Radio. Held in New York, and moderated by Museum president Robert M. Batscha, the seminars pay tribute to television journalist Barbara Walters. This first seminar focuses on Walters's work as an entertainment journalist and celebrity interviewer. After an introduction by Frank Bennack, in which Bennack points out that Walters has interviewed every president of the United States since the mid-1960s, Walters and Batscha take the stage to set up the clip reel that will be screened prior to the interview portion of the seminar. The highlight reel contains clips of interviews by Walters of Johnny Carson, Katharine Hepburn, Roseanne Barr, Richard Pryor, Julia Roberts, Robin Williams, John Wayne, Warren Beatty, Delta Burke, Mike Tyson and Robin Givens, Bing Crosby, Sean Connery, Sophia Loren, Barbra Streisand, Sylvester Stallone, and David Letterman. After the clip reel, Batscha asks Walters about the way in which she and her team do preliminary research for the interviews. Walters explains that the team often goes into an interview with more than 200 questions prepared. Batscha then asks Walters for her theory about why ordinarily secretive celebrities are willing to open up to her about the most intimate aspects of their personal lives. Walters says that she thinks that, while some of the people appear on her show because of its reputation, others agree to be interviewed in order to clear up misconceptions about them that circulate in the media. In the question-and-answer segment of the seminar, one person asks Walters whether there is any celebrity whom she has never been able to convince to appear. Walters reveals that Woody Allen has consistently turned her down. Another longtime hold-out, though, eventually caved in, she explains: David Letterman. Another audience member asks Walters whether there are any issues she considers taboo, and she recalls that Paul Newman's handlers insisted that she not touch on the recent death of his son from a drug overdose in their interview. Walters also tells stories about Mike Tyson's calm demeanor during their interview (at the time of the seminar, Tyson has just been arrested for rape), as well as Sean Connery's declaration that he sees nothing wrong in a man's hitting a woman to keep her in line. The seminar ends after Walters offers advice to aspiring journalists and complains that she is losing touch with the world of popular culture; her producers had to tell her who Garth Brooks was, she explains, when they were arranging an interview.

Details

• NETWORK: Paley
• DATE: February 19, 1992 Wednesday 6:00 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 1:26:10
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: T:23510
• GENRE: Seminars
• SUBJECT HEADING: She Made It Collection (Barbara Walters)
• SERIES RUN: N/A
• COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

• Robert M. Batscha … Host, Moderator
• Barbara Walters … Guest
• Woody Allen
• Barr, Roseanne (see also: Roseanne Arnold, Roseanne)
• Warren Beatty
• Frank A. Bennack, Jr.
• Garth Brooks
• Delta Burke
• Johnny Carson
• Sean Connery
• Bing Crosby
• Robin Givens
• Katharine Hepburn
• David Letterman
• Sophia Loren
• Paul Newman
• Richard Pryor
• Julia Roberts
• Sylvester Stallone
• Barbra Streisand
• Mike Tyson
• John Wayne
• Robin Williams