During an appearance on Monday's Good Morning America, Geddie reflected on working with Walters: 'It’s an amazing life and it needs to be celebrated.'
“I couldn’t believe it. I took over the Barbara Walters specials from the great Phyllis McGrady and I had the best job in television and I told everybody,” Geddie said. “And I was saying this to some TV executive there, who will remain nameless, a male, who’s long gone and he said ‘hey, not so fast there kid. You’re 33, she’s 58. Nobody wants to see a woman over age 60 on television. So you got a year, maybe two.
“A quarter of a century later she is doing live television five days a week, we’re putting primetime specials. People talk about her battles with sexism, but how about that ageism front. She was a pretty amazing in that regard too,” he added., Geddie admitted she wasn’t originally interested in the idea of hosting a daytime talk show until conversations with her daughter spawned an idea.]. I was a huge Regis Philbin fan.
After working with Walters for decades, Geddie said the one thing he learned from her was to “do it now” and “don’t procrastinate.” “It was always a little scary when you’d suggest something to her,” Geddie said, noting that if he threw out a suggestion to interview the First Lady, Walters would be eager to set up the interview immediately.
When reflecting further on what he’s going to miss about Walters, he praised her humor and hard work. “I miss that she was very funny. She thought I was funny. If you think I’m funny, you got me. I’m yours for life. And also, she kept me on my toes. Barbara could make anybody feel like a slacker. She kept me on my toes and I appreciate that. I appreciate people who do that. It’s an amazing thing that she did for me and for the world,” he said.
Geddie noted that there’s a perception that Walters must have been “tough as nails,” but he said, “that wasn’t the Barbara I knew. I mean, she had very strong ideas, but she could be talked off a bad idea and talked into a good one and I think that’s really important for everybody in this world.”
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