THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, April 30, 1996 TAG: 9604300048
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
BETH POLSON, the television executive from Corapeake, N.C., who won two Emmys producing Barbara Walters' celebrity interview specials on ABC, says nobody works harder going after a story than Walters.
Barbara the bulldog.
If it takes a 3 a.m. phone call, Walters will do it, said Polson. If it takes writing a letter to the same person every day for a month, Walters will do it. If it takes packing up at a moment's notice and flying off to Cuba, Moscow or Cairo, Walters will do it.
If it takes traipsing through the Sahara in heels, Walters will do it to secure an exclusive interview.
She has been Barbara the bulldog for 20 years, which is what her special on ABC Wednesday night is all about - Barbara interviews the world. In the 90-minute retrospective, which starts at 9:30 p.m., Walters is seen asking tough questions of people all over the celebrity spectrum from Richard M. Nixon and the Shah of Iran to Jane Fonda and Elton John.
And some silly questions, too, such as the time she wondered out loud what kind of a tree Katharine Hepburn would like to be. Tree question or no tree question, Walters is the best interviewer in the business, said Polson, who left Walters to begin producing made-for-TV films in Southern California.
``I have enormous respect for Barbara. She was a great boss and is a great friend,'' said Polson.
Walters has been on a roll of late, bagging interviews with Colin Powell, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Christopher Reeve. She's probably on the phone to the man suspected of being the Unabomber.
``It's been my best year,'' Walters said to a recent gathering of TV writers in Los Angeles. ``Twenty years ago was my worst year.''
That was the year when Walters, 44 at the time, left a secure position with the ``Today'' show on NBC to become part of a grand experiment at ABC News - the pairing of a male and female anchor on the evening news for the first time. Harry Reasoner was uncomfortable as Walters' partner and it shows on the tapes that pop up at the start of ``Barbara Walters: 20 Years at ABC.'' This special moves quickly and entertains greatly.
You'll see how a sappy Walters signs off her first newscast with Reasoner at her elbow. ``Harry and I will try to bring you the best darn news program on television.''
Oh, wow.
``It was all downhill after the first broadcast,'' she said of life with Harry.
The climb back began when Roone Arledge took over ABC News, put Walters on ``Issues and Answers,'' created celebrity interview specials for her and put her on the air with Hugh Downs of ``20/20.''
ABC pays her $4 million a year. She wants more. Walters is negotiating a new contract.
Hillary Clinton gave the millionaire interviewer only 30 minutes.
Walters impression of First Lady Hillary: ``She was poised, calm, amusing. She doesn't blink. She doesn't show nervousness. She doesn't twitch. She's very smooth. . . . ''
Let's get something straight about the if-you-were-a-tree question for which Walters has been mercilessly criticized. The fact is, Hepburn started the tree talk.
``I'm strong,'' she said. ``I've become a sort of thing. A tree.''
Walters followed up. ``What kind a tree are you?'' Hepburn said she'd like to be an oak.
Walters' worst interview? Virginian Warren Beatty.
Walters to Beatty: ``Tell me about your new movie.''
Beatty to Walters: That's a difficult question.'' In an understatement, Walters said, ``The man is not very forthcoming.''
On the other hand, when Elizabeth Taylor was the wife of Virginia senator John Warner, and happy to live on a farm and fry up a mess of chicken for dinner, she held back little from Walters. Taylor even admitted that being overweight didn't bother her a bit.
Pass the mashed potatoes, Barbara. by CNB