Discover the remarkable journey of Barbara Walters, a pioneering journalist whose interviews shaped the landscape of television news.
Barbara Walters: A Legacy of Iconic Interviews
During her storied multi-decade tenure at ABC News, Barbara Walters could always be trusted to book the high-profile interviews — and secure the exclusive scoops — that few other journalists could get. Now, a buzzy new documentary is telling us everything about the late broadcaster’s own life and career, from the friends she made, the criticisms she endured, and the romances that formed and fizzled in the public eye.
Following its premiere at the Tribeca Festival last month, Barbara Walters Tell Me Everything launched on Hulu on Monday. Directed by Jackie Jesko, the film shows how Walters’ intense drive propelled her rise to the top of the TV news game. However, that ambition also led to a strained relationship with the people in her life, including her daughter, Jacqueline Dena Guber, who declined to appear on-camera.
Insights from the Director
In a recent interview, Jesko revealed that she took direction for how to approach her subject’s life from Walters herself — specifically her tell-all 2008 autobiography, Audition: A Memoir. “She spilled so much tea, I don’t know if there are any huge questions I would have,” the director remarked. “She talked about a boss she slept with when she was 25. I just thought, You didn’t need to include that detail, but I love that you did!”
Walters’ Impact on Journalism
While it dishes out the tea, Tell Me Everything primarily emphasizes Walters’ credentials as a major league journalist, revisiting her agenda-setting conversations with world leaders like Fidel Castro and Jimmy Carter. Jesko also notes how Walters seized the opportunity to redefine the art of the celebrity interview—and those efforts yielded blockbuster ratings for ABC.
Across four decades, she interviewed anyone and everyone in Hollywood, from Sandra Bullock and Clint Eastwood to Katharine Hepburn and Oprah Winfrey. Jesko has called Hepburn’s 1981 interview — in which Walters famously asked the screen legend what tree she wanted to be — one of her all-time favorites. Meanwhile, her 1982 chat with Eastwood got so flirty that Walters later said she turned down a date with Dirty Harry.
Oscar Night Tradition
Walters also launched her own Oscar night tradition: from 1981 to 2010, she hosted annual specials that aired alongside the movie industry’s premiere awards show. Ahead of the last special, Walters called the series a “labor of love.”
“I will always remember when Hugh Jackman gave me a private lap dance or sitting down with the legendary Bette Davis or being taught to tango by Al Pacino,” she added. “It’s those priceless moments that have made this special the Oscar tradition that it has become.”
Memorable Oscar Night Interviews
While those may be three of Walters’ favorite moments, Gold Derby naturally had to make our own picks. Here are our five nominees for her most memorable Oscar night interviews.
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Elizabeth Taylor (1987)
Walters’ 1987 Oscar special featured not just one, but two giant stars of yesteryear. Before the aforementioned Bette Davis interview, Walters spoke with the one and only Elizabeth Taylor about her life and loves.
Arnold Schwarzenegger (1990)
Barbara Walters… gym rat? That’s the alternate path the journalist might have taken after Schwarzenegger helps her get some reps in before their sit-down. It’s a humanizing conversation with the action star just at the point where he was pivoting into becoming the biggest celebrity on the planet.
Halle Berry (2002)
On the same evening that she made Oscar history as the first Black woman to win the Best Actress Oscar, the Monster’s Ball star had an emotional interview with Walters about her turbulent personal life and her relationship with her mother. It makes Berry’s victory all the more resonant.
Shrek (2004)
Leave it to Walters to pull an Eddie Valiant. Ahead of the 2004 Oscar, she ventured into the animated territory of Far Far Away to speak with its top ogre on his home turf. Subjects covered included Shrek and Fiona’s honeymoon (in a sign of the times, Shrek cracks a Paris Hilton sex tape joke) and missing out on a Best Actor nomination at the 2002 awards. They even come up with nicknames for each other: Bibbity and Shrekie.
Sandra Bullock (2010)
As Walters’ final Oscar special guest, Bullock hilariously turns the tables on the host by asking her the same tree-related question she posed to Hepburn all those years ago. It’s a fantastic callback — and the perfect ending to a long-running story.
