During her heyday from
the 1960s to the early '80s, entertainment reporter Rona
Barrett's name was as synonymous with Hollywood as any of the
A-list stars she interviewed. Born a grocer's daughter with a
form of muscular dystrophy, Barrett found escape from her
difficult life in Queens watching Shirley Temple movies. As a
teenager, Barrett decided to turn her love of cinema into a
career. When her column about young film stars in
Photoplay
magazine became a sensation in the late '50s, Barrett moved
to Los Angeles. Over the next decade, Barrett would become the
first woman to bring entertainment reporting to television.
Besides a string of popular movie magazines and numerous TV
specials bearing her name, Barrett was also a regular
contributor for
Good Morning America
, the
Today
show, and
Entertainment Tonight
, among others.
Nearly every major star
of the era revealed their deepest secrets to Barrett. Carol
Burnett spoke publicly for the first time about her family's
tragic history of alcohol abuse. Cher disclosed what she needed
in a sex partner. John Travolta was so comfortable with Barrett
that he kept his obligation to be interviewed by her just hours
after his mother's funeral.
Her new DVD
compilation,
Rona Barrett's Hollywood: Nothing But the Truth
, offers 10 of her favorite sit-down chats from her private
archives. One dollar from each DVD sold will be donated to the
Rona Barrett Foundation, which helps senior citizens who are
unable to afford assisted-living care.
"I came to Hollywood
to help the younger generation," says Barrett, "and now I'm
trying to help the older generation."
Over an afternoon
coffee at the equally iconic Farmers Market in Los Angeles,
Barrett speaks with Advocate.com about her renowned career,
outing closeted celebrities, and what she'd ask Britney
Spears.
Advocate.com: How did you get such big stars of the day to not only open
their homes to you, but to be so frank in front of the cameras?
You even interviewed Cher in her bed.
Rona Barrett:
[
Laughs
] I think they sensed that I wasn't just there to ask them a
question but to know something more about them as people and
what made them tick. When I had an important question, they
felt I was their friend and would tell me what I wanted to
know. I would never ask a question that I wouldn't answer
myself.
Was any subject considered taboo by your network?
If it was, there were people in broadcast standards who would
watch for it in the taped interviews and my reports before they
went on the air. Once I was reviewing a film and I said
something like, "Clint Eastwood brought out his big gun."
The lady at standards said, "I don't think you can say
that." I had to convince her that it wasn't a euphemism [
Laughs
].
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