NATIONAL | winter 2006
The first woman on primetime TV to…
… direct: Frances Buss, 1944
… head a major production company: Lucille Ball, 1962
… be hired as a sportscaster: Donna de Varona, 1965
… have an abortion, as a lead character: Bea Arthur in Maude, 1972
… go through menopause: Jean Stapleton in All in the Family, 1972
… coanchor the evening news: Barbara Walters, 1976
… come out, as a lead character: Ellen DeGeneres in Ellen, 1997
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In the upcoming Winter 2006 issue, Ms. talked with TV pioneers Marlo Thomas (producer and star of the popular sitcom That Girl) and Geraldine Laybourne (former honcho of Nickelodeon and now of Oxygen Media) about a new exhibit at The Museum of Television and Radio which features 2,000 hours of TV and radio produced by, written by and starring women.
Watch for some of the most dynamic current TV (and film) women on January 15, as they vie for Golden Globe awards. Nominees include Geena Davis (TV drama actor, Commander in Chief), Charlize Theron (film actor, North Country), Frances McDormand (supporting film actor, North Country), Dame Judi Dench (film actor, Mrs. Henderson Presents), Shirley MacLaine (supporting film actor, In Her Shoes), Glenn Close (TV drama actor, The Shield), S. Epatha Merkerson (TV film actor, Lackawanna Blues), Camryn Manheim (supporting TV film actor, Elvis), Sandra Oh (supporting TV actor, Grey’s Anatomy) and Halle Berry (TV film actor, Their Eyes Were Watching God).
Disappointingly, no women were nominated for film direction, and only one woman—Diana Ossana, cowriter of the stunning Brokeback Mountain—was nominated for best screenplay.
For more on women in television, and a new exhibit at the Museum of Television and Radio, read the Winter 2006 issue of Ms.!
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