Biography

Who the Hell Am I?

By on • ( 42 Comments )

Hoowee! It been a long while! Me brain be dimming. So ain’t it about time we play another fun and exciting game of Who the Hell Am I? We gots to sharpen up our brains and get smart!

In this game you get 10 clues to guess the name of a famous person. These clues are numbered countdown-style, 10 to 1, with the first clue numbered 10. Your score is determined by the highest numbered clue that evokes the correct answer.

At the end of the clues you can click a link for the answer. However, the link is numbered zero, so if you haven’t figured out the answer by the time you click it, you get no points.

Who the hell am I?

10. I was born in Boston, in 1929, the grandchild of European Jewish emigrants. My paternal grandfather’s name was Abraham Isaac Waremwasser. My father was born with the name of Louis Abraham Warmwater, but later in life he shortened his last name. This shortened last name became my last name.

9. My father was in show business, where he made and lost several fortunes producing Broadway shows, the Ziegfield Follies, and directing the entertainment at the Tropicana Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. I was surrounded by celebrities while growing up. This helped me later in life, as a celebrity interviewer, because I was accustomed to being around famous people, and was never in awe of them.

8. I was married four times, but none of my marriages lasted long. I got romantic with the gangster attorney Roy Cohn, when I was in college, after he helped get an arrest warrant against my father dismissed. Roy also helped me to adopt a daughter. Roy and I remained close until his death from AIDS in 1986.

7. I began my television career in 1953, as a writer-producer of a TV show in New York City called, Ask the Camera, which was directed by Roone Arledge. During my long career in television, I became known for “personality journalism” and “scoop” interviews.

6. In the early 1960s, I was hired by NBC to work on the staff of The Today Show. During that decade I gained renown for my interviewing skills. However it was widely believed that a feminine type like me could never be taken seriously at reporting hard news. And when the host of The Today Show, Frank McGee did joint interviews with me, he insisted upon asking the first three questions.

5. Frank McGee died in 1974, and I was named to replace him, becoming the first female co-host of a U.S. news program. In 1976, I was signed to a five-year, $5 million contract, to co-anchor the ABC Evening News, with Harry Reasoner. This made me the highest-paid news anchor, either male or female. This also made me the first woman to co-host a network evening newscast.

4. I was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1989. In 1999, a record 74 million viewers watched me interview Monica Lewinsky. And I’ve interviewed every sitting president from Richard Nixon to Barack Obama. I also interviewed Donald Trump and Joe Biden when they weren’t presidents. In fact, my very last on-air interview was with presidential candidate Donald Trump, in December 2015.

3. In 1997, I became a co-creator and co-host of the daytime, all-female talk show, The View. I retired from co-hosting this show in 2014.

2. I was sometimes lampooned by comedians. In one interview, I gave them comic material after asking Katherine Hepburn, “If you were a tree, what kind would it be?” I also became the bizarre butt of jokes after comedienne Gilda Radner famously mispronounced my name, while imitating me.

1. I died less than two months ago, on December 30, 2022, at the age of 93.

0. Still can’t put your finger on my name? Then put your finger on your mouse and click on this link, to learn it on Wikipedia. Or you can click this link, and get a big hint from Gilda Radner. But no matter what you do, I’m sad to report that you’ve lost. You get zero points.

Categories: Biography

42 replies »

  2. Based on Q10 = Gilda Hertzenbaum
    Based on Q9 = change my answer to Hilda Burbonschmadt
    Based on Q8 = change my answer to Bubby Hildaschmadt
    Based on Q7 = change my answer to Frida Fox
    Based on Q6 = change my answer to Gilda Fox
    Based on Q5 = change my answer to Fanny Fox (got to be a Fox news angle here right?)
    Based on Q4 = change my answer to Walter Fox (silly me assuming answer was female!)
    Based on Q3 = (should have said definitely female earlier!), so change my answer to Barbra Streisand.
    Based on Q2 = Yup! Still the gorgeous Babs!
    Based on Q1 = Babs is still alive, but Walter isn’t. Change my answer to Barbara Walters.

    Liked by 2 people

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  4. I got a notion of it at nine but wasn’t certain until you mentioned the new program. I will take a patronizing “good job, Jason” in a voice you might use to talk down to a mentally challenged Chihuahua.

    Liked by 2 people

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  5. Meh… Only fowah points. Should have gotten it when you mentioned Hawwy Weasoneh. But in my defense, I only wemembah seeing hew once, intehviewing Saddam Hussain. Nothing about weapons of mass destwuction… just his womantic welationships.

    Liked by 3 people

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