Television: Not for Women Only

It must have seemed like Barbara Walters Week at the White House. Barbara’s name cropped up on the Administration’s list of 87 journalists chosen to accompany President Nixon to China, making her one of three women in the entourage and the only woman who is not a regular White House correspondent. At the same time, in her capacity as one of the interlocutors on NBC’s early-morning Today show, Barbara came out with the first television interview with H.R. Haldeman, a key member of Nixon’s Teutonic guard. She elicited from Haldeman the charge that critics of Nixon’s Viet Nam peace plan were “consciously aiding and abetting the enemy”—a remark that made headlines across the nation, drew angry rebuttals from the critics, and forced the White House to do some awkward smoothing over.

Such coups are nothing new for Barbara. Once, while she was filming a session with Tricia Nixon at the White House. Trish’s father walked in unexpectedly and offered to put in a word for Barbara with England’s Prince Philip, then on a U.S. visit. Philip taped an interview for Today with her the following morning. Later, at a state dinner in the White House, Barbara thanked Nixon for being such a good booking agent. “Whom would you like me to get next?” he laughed. “How about you, Mr. President?” she asked. And so, on his wife’s birthday, Nixon sat down on a settee with Barbara for a cozy chat, in front of 6,000,000 viewers.

Political Probing. With such guests, and with less imposing ones from movie starlets to oddball hobbyists, Barbara is alternately breathy and brittle, cool and aggressive. Her technique is a model, to some observers, of what makes an interview great; to others, of what makes an interview grate. Recently Russian Poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko was so nonplussed by her political probing (“Why are you allowed to travel while many other Russian writers cannot?”) that he later de scribed her off the air as “a hyena in syrup.”

Behind Barbara’s toughness lies a lot of discipline. She rises at five a.m., reads five newspapers daily, keeps files of reviews and makes it a point to look at the book, movie or whatever of every scheduled guest. All this while being the wife of Theatrical Producer Lee Guber and the mother of a three-year-old adopted daughter. “She’s very professional,” says Film Critic Judith Crist, her sometime colleague on Today. “She’s a damned good reporter, does most of her own writing and is a perfectionist.” But Barbara, a sleek brunette of 40, has another side too. “I am also on the Today show to add small talk, to smile pleasantly and be attractive,” she says. Once, asked whether she felt the show exploited her as a sex object, she replied: “I should hope so.”

Tripled Ratings. Boston-born, Barbara is the daughter of Lou Walters, who opened the Latin Quarter nightclubs in Boston. Miami and New York. After studying English at Sarah Lawrence, she flirted with acting, then took a speedwriting course and went to work as a secretary at NBC. Researching and writing stints followed, and eight years ago she went on camera as the 16th permanent “Today girl,” the first who was allowed to do much more than decorate the set, and the one who stuck.

Just over a year ago, Barbara branched out with a briskly selling book. How to Talk with Practically Anybody About Practically Anything, Last year, she took over as moderator of a local New York morning show called For Women Only, changing the name to Not For Women Only. The ratings have tripled since, and this week the show is going on the air in Washington as well. “It would be nice to have my own network program.” Barbara says. “The only woman with a daily network show is Dinah Shore, and she sings. I’d like to do evening news specials like the men do. A female anchorman on the nightly news hasn’t happened yet either.” No, but will it? “China,” says Barbara, “is a step.”