Talk:Barbara Walters

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[edit] Babs Elliot

Should there be any discussion of the rumors that Walters tap-danced professionally as a child under the stage name "Babs Elliot"?

ALSO THE ARTICLE MAKES NO REFERENCE TO HER DAYS SPENT WORKING AS A HOSTESS AT HEF'S CHICAGO PLAYBOY NIGHTCLUB

[edit] Gay Icon Project

In my effort to merge the now-deleted list from the article Gay icon to the Gay icons category, I have added this page to the category. I engaged in this effort as a "human script", adding everyone from the list to the category, bypassing the fact-checking stage. That is what I am relying on you to do. Please check the article Gay icon and make a judgment as to whether this person or group fits the category. By distributing this task from the regular editors of one article to the regular editors of several articles, I believe that the task of fact-checking this information can be expedited. Thank you very much. Philwelch 22:19, 24 Mar 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Name change

could we look at whether the edit change regarding her name "they were Jewish." I'm uncomfortable with that in the sense this is not a bio focusing on her religion, and the way it reads, altho not necessarily intended by the writer, is that this issue of name is a Jewish thing.

also, look at footnote 1 just above. "That this is false". An encylopedia and POV would suggest that the page is at war with itself on an issue. I dont think there is a case to be made that Walters ever gets into haggeling over her religion or birth place. So why would that be an issue here? If the information needs to stay on the page the "this is false" formating should be revised.

—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Kyle Andrew Brown (talk • contribs) 17:19, July 28, 2005. Tomer TALK 07:46, July 29, 2005 (UTC)
I've changed the wording to say "incorrect" as opposed to "false", since IMHO at least "false" implies that ABC or Walters is lying. While this may be the case, that's an accusation that's not up to WP to make.
Does anyone know what sources were used for writing this article?
I've also removed the following from the article:
Louis Walters, her father, was born Aug 22, 1894 in London(Hackney district), son of Isaac and Anna.. In the 1901 British census their birthplace is given as Poland, but in the US 1930 it is given as Russia, probably due to the fact it was part of Czarist Russia at one time. It does appear that they were Jewish and had changed their surname in England.
My rationale is that it appears to be original research, which is all well and good, but ineligible for inclusion in the article. I don't see any source on it at all, and it appears to be motivated by an interest to say "she's a Jew!" rather than to convey any relevant information about Walters. Tomer TALK 07:46, July 29, 2005 (UTC)

A dissenting view: while someone's religion is not relevant to their accomplishments, it is part of who they are, and there should be no shame in saying so. Besides, the statement refers to history regarding her parents, which is an interesting tidbit and not prejudice.

[edit] Birthyear

Her birthyear is wrong! It says on Newsday that she is 74 years old today! Do the math. And you will know the birthyear is wrong! (Kyla 14:53, 25 September 2005 (UTC))

So you regard a pop-culture magazine as a more authoritative source than the 1930 census? Wahkeenah 15:09, 25 September 2005 (UTC)

Perhaps a more cogent response would be to say "please refer to the text in the previous section of this talk page"... Tomer TALK 01:45, 11 October 2005 (UTC)
More cogent, perhaps, but not nearly as much fun. It's clear the writer had paid no attention to any of what had been written previously, either here or in the article, so they were the proverbial fish in a pickle barrel. >:) Wahkeenah 01:58, 11 October 2005 (UTC)
I actually read your citation of the "original research", and you can only discount the writer's research on this if (1) you regard the government census as a disreputable source, or (2) the writer lied about it. I don't feel like rummaging through the 1930 census, but some more amibitious soul, like yourself, is welcome to. :) P.S. I couldn't care less what Barb's age is. However, if I were writing the article, I would post her "official" birthdate up top, with a footnote explaining that although it's the conventionally given date, the census seems to prove otherwise, and I would also mellow out the "liar, liar, pants-on-fire" tone of the current footnote. Wahkeenah 02:06, 11 October 2005 (UTC)

Vandals continue to change the year of birth from 1929 to 1931 notwithstanding the census data (see below): Barbara Walters' biographies usually give her date of birth as September 25, 1931. Researchers studying census records dispute this. They say that the 1930 Federal Census for the Enumeration District 41-184 shows her family on page 198, with father Louis Walters aged 34, wife Dena Walters, aged 33, Jacqueline, daughter, aged 3 years and 11 months, and Barbara, aged 6 months. This was recorded on April 21/22, 1930, so Barbara would have been born around October 1929. This indicates she was born in 1929, but shaved two years off her age, not unknown amongst women in entertainment.

NOTE: On the actual page, the birth year now appears as 1921, not 1931. This is inconsistent with the census record as stated. WikiFlier 04:39, 2 August 2006 (UTC)

If it keeps happening the page will have to be protected. WaltzingMatilda 06:05, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

That census document has not been aunthenticated and therefore has no business whatsoever to be on this page. Cantwaitforit 17:55, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

Sorry, but I think that is just silly. Tvoz |talk 17:57, 17 May 2007 (UTC)
Authenticated? What do you mean by that? I've looked it up, and it says exactly what's claimed. - Nunh-huh 18:06, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

Fine, then. Where else can I go to verify this document other than the link provided in this article, which is dead by the way. Cantwaitforit 20:08, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

Yes, I saw that the link went dead - it was working very recently - so I've emailed the siteowner to find out why. ANother editor verified this with ancestry.com, which is a paid site so not accessible to all, but is available on a free trial basis if you want to check. The link is, by the way, an image of the actual census page, and is on a reliable site, so I'm hopeful that it will be back up shortly. Meanwhile, please leave it as 1929.Tvoz |talk 20:19, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

I can find Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, and numerous Biographies that say 1931. Why should one easily faked document from a site called www.rootdig.com, outweigh all of that. Cantwaitforit 20:29, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

Because it comes from ancestry.com to rootdig, and ancestry is a well-respected reliable source. Try this link:

[1] which you can access on a free trial basis. Do you have some reason to think this document is forged? Tvoz |talk 20:33, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

Correction: you have to go to ancestry.com first and set up a free trial first, and once logged in you should be able to access the page by the link or by searching for Barbara Walters 1929-1931 and scrolling down until to reach the entry with Louis and Dena Walters as parents. This is a reliable site, used by genealogists regularly. Tvoz |talk 20:37, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

See this link: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1B1-382292.html. The only link that is provided in this article to support a 1929 birth is a dead link. Meanwhile, there are plenty of reilable online and print sources that have Walters' birthyear as 1931. Plus, even if www.rootdig.com was working, any information should be verifiable by two separate and reliable sources. Until that can be provided on this page, I think it is only fair that the birthyear be cited as the most commonly used and easily checked, which is 1931. Zackfins54 18:48, 21 May 2007 (UTC)

It's been checked: that you also have a dead link doesn't alter that. Furthermore, there's no requirement that sources be online (though this is, as pointed out, at Ancestry.com): you can consult the same source at any Family History Library. - Nunh-huh 19:09, 21 May 2007 (UTC)

I am done with this topic. I believe that there is enough evidence to support Walters' birthyear as 1931, however, if I'm outnumbered, then so be it. However, I don't appreciate having someone request that I be blocked due to edit warring, simply because I disagreed with them. I felt that the changes I made were justified by several sources and just because its differs from what other people think does not make it edit warring. But, like I said, I'm done with the whole issue. Zackfins54 21:09, 21 May 2007 (UTC)

Actually, no one asked that you be blocked. I asked the administrator who refused your request for an unblock to check into your return and determine the next step. Tvoz |talk 21:11, 21 May 2007 (UTC)


Not that the person's own words are necessarily the truth....could be mistaken with a bad memory, could be...uh, less than exact, let's say.....but in her autobiography, Audition---which I have an early copy of---she says she was born in 1931. MKohut (talk) 17:24, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

The age a woman claims she is is notoriously unreliable, especially when they are employed in a profession that values youth over experience. In evaluating sources for birth dates, a contemporaneous - or more nearly contemporaneous - document is to be preferred over an assertion made decades after the event. - Nunh-huh 05:00, 4 May 2008 (UTC)
which the source is - agree with Nunh-huh Tvoz/talk 05:03, 4 May 2008 (UTC)
Furthermore, Audition as published in fact doesn't contain a birthdate at all, let alone "1931"; instead of lying Walters simply plays coy, saying only that she's over 70. If early copies included "1931", perhaps it was reconsidered and it was thought prudent not to dissemble so. When one traffics in news, lying about things doesn't enhance your credibility. - Nunh-huh 09:20, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Moving "View" section

The section on "The View" in the Early Career doesn't really have to do with Walters' early career, so I'm moving it to the lower section on her more recent career, along with some touch-ups and a reference for the Star Jones Reynolds part.

[edit] Cleanup tag

The article needs copyediting. I only skimmed the first paragraph, but it has several typographical errors in the form of misplaced punctuation and missing spaces between words. The whole article needs to be gone over with a fine tooth comb.--Anchoress 20:43, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Never learned to drive

Barbara Walters never learned to drive a car and given her age likely never will. There's not much information on-line about it, but here's a ref.: [2] and I believe she's said it at least a couple times on TV shows like The View and 20/20 Should such a detail be added to the article, and if so, how? There is not a trivia section and while I feel it's something important to add, it would stick out like a sore thumb in this article as it exists now. I may add it myself under Early Life or Personal Life, but I'm concerned how it might appear.


It's interesting - she actually mentioned it on today's (very pre-taped) episode of The View. And when I saw that on TV today, I thought to myself, "Hey, that's interesting, because she is so successful and makes it all seem so easy, but she has mental blocks and phobias like we all do." And I think that's why it would be relevant to include, in my opinion. Cliffie97 23:38, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] 30 mistakes in 30 years

This would be a good place to list the 30 "mistakes" Barbara claimed in a recent television special to have made over the course of her career. I know #30 is her asking Katharine Hepburn what kind of a tree she would like to be, and #6 is her interview with Warren Beatty, which she says was her worst ever. - Mcasey666 15:39, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Middle Name

According to her engagement announcement (1 May 1955, The New York Times, page 96) and the announcement of her first marriage, to Robert Henry Katz (21 June 1955, The New York Times), her birth name is BARBARA JILL WALTERS. I'm changing the intro line unless someone can provide another reference for "Anne" being her middle name.204.126.250.117 21:26, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Photo?

Man, does this page ever need a photo and a serious attempt at a more encyclopedic entry. I mean, it's Barbara Walters! Let's spruce her page up a little bit! KrewBay 04:11, 31 December 2006 (UTC)

I think the photo we have of her is in violation of Neutral Point of View, she is not usually that happy looking, she has a more serious look on her face most of the time, cunning/cotemplating/curious usually not smiley, if thats the only copyleft or fair use pic we have then fine but if we could get a more realistic shot of her it would better illustrate her as the person she is71.142.88.173 02:43, 26 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] "Liar" - Star Jones, Rosie O'Donnell, Donald Trump

Would it be noteworthy to include that she has been called a "liar" by all three Star Jones, Rosie O'Donnell, and Donald Trump? Crea 04:24, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

No, unless we think they are experts in the field... Tvoz | talk 09:02, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Birthplace

I'm pretty sure that she was born in New York City (which we should spell out, let's be professional, folks), but the sidebar says Boston, Mass. Any comments? 76.17.241.46 13:19, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, Ihave a comment. She was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Tvoz | talk 23:49, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Intimidation from Bill O'Reilly and Fox News

Several months ago Rosie and Joy alluded to Bill O'Reilly's sexual harassment lawsuit. This is what happened next according to Rosie at rosie.com:

“ when joy and i

alluded to bill oreillys sex scandal on the view

we were told the following day that we couldn’t bring it up anymore or else bill o would “go after” all the hosts of the view

 ”

Legal filing about Bill O'Reilly's sexual harassment lawsuit are here. It should be noted that Barbara Walters did an interview with Bill O'Reilly before his latest book came out last year. She did not bring up the subject of his alleged sexual harassment and how his wife and family delt with it.

[edit] Anti-Catholic

This section is being given too much weight as a main section of this article - I kept the information as a footnote and moved the entire quote etc to The View where it more appropriately housed. It is an important point, but it's hardly the on;y controversy that Walters has been accused of being biased in, and as such doesn't warrant a main section - it's pushing a POV by doing so. The View now has it in its "accusations of bias" section, with the quote in a footnote which is a more balanced placement. Tvoz |talk 20:09, 18 April 2007 (UTC)

I agree with this change. My revert to this edit was a mistake.VirtualDelight 22:00, 18 April 2007 (UTC)
thanks - all's well! Tvoz |talk 23:24, 18 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Trivia Section

Does two people not winning their award really constitute a "jinx", and does that word even belong in this article?Just in looking at this past year alone, Jennifer Hudson and Helen Mirren were both on the same Walters Special as Eddie Murphy, and they won their categories. I don't find this to be a necessary addition to this article.Zackfins54 18:22, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

I agree with the removal - it is ridiculous, and it doesn't belong in the article. Thanks. Tvoz |talk 18:35, 22 May 2007 (UTC)
I'm glad I wasn't the only one who felt this way. You're welcome. Zackfins54 18:41, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] James Lipton, pimp

In order to fulfill the BLP guidelines, I think we're going to have to have a better source for Lipton's story than an interview. Wait till the book comes out, and then, if we decide it is considered essential somehow to our understanding of Barbara Walters, we can quote it. And the story that he told was that Barbara Walters "went upstairs" with two women who had been told "no hanky panky", not that he arranged "a sexual lesbian encounter with two women" for her. - Nunh-huh 11:33, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Liar

Barbara Walters is internationally known for being deceptive, saying one thing although meaning something completely different. Recently she has been going around telling others that The View's ratings are even higher than last season. We know that is a lie. When tv shows are rating leaders they share that information. In the 06-07 season they released their ratings for every month. The week after Rosie O'Donnell left Barbara Walters announced that the ratings had increased from the week before when in fact they plunged 14%. She then announced the ratings for the first two weeks of the 07-08 season saying they were higher than last season. The first week's ratings were actually lower while the second was higher. Since that time the show has kept mum on their actual ratings, not even releasing their November sweeps information. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.181.225.35 (talk) 08:31, 6 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] MySpace

I added Barbara Walters MySpace page link, and I know that it IS official. I found it on the 10 most interesting people of 2007 show. -CamT|C 13:12, 6 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Was Walters a Playboy bunny?

I was watching the game show network and on the show Trivia Trap, Bob Eubanks announced that Barbara Walters used to be a playboy bunny. Is this true? If so, how come this is not Wikipedia information? 216.80.64.153 (talk) 05:05, 15 March 2008 (UTC)

The only reference I found (which was sketchy) said she did an undercover assignment as a Playboy bunny once, not that she was one in fact. She had many reporting assignments - unless a more reliable source is found, I don't think this rises to the level of notability or verifiability. Tvoz |talk 05:27, 15 March 2008 (UTC)