Bree Walker
| Bree Walker | |
|---|---|
 Bree Walker at Common Cause Media Conference 2008 |
|
| Born | 1953 (age 58–59) Oakland, California |
| Occupation | Actress, Talk Show Host, News Anchor |
| Known for | ectrodactyly |
| Website | |
| http://www.breewalker.com | |
Bree Walker (born 1953)[1] is a radio talk show host, actress, and disability-rights activist, who gained fame as the first on-air American television network news anchor with ectrodactyly.[2] Walker worked as a news anchor and/or reporter in San Diego, New York City, and Los Angeles.
Walker was born in Oakland, California and raised in the state of Minnesota near the Iowa border. She inherited ectrodactyly, a rare genetic condition, resulting in her fingers and toes being fused together.
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[edit] TV & Radio
Established and well into her career at the ABC affiliate KGTV Channel 10 in San Diego, Walker decided to go public with her ectrodactyly after previously keeping her deformed hands hidden inside a pair of glove-like prosthetic hands. With her hands now clearly visible, she continued her newscasting career at KGTV, moving up to the larger rock station KPRI FM. She started her television career in 1980 at KGTV as a consumer advocacy reporter.
[edit] Acting
Walker has also dabbled in acting, appearing as herself in the end-of-the-world science-fiction thriller Without Warning[1] (credited as Bree Walker-Lampley but referred to on screen as Bree Walker) and as television reporter Wendy Sorenson in The Chase.[1] Walker also guest-starred on an episode of the PBS children's series, Reading Rainbow, to talk about her disability.
While watching the 2003 season of Carnivàle, an HBO television series about a Depression-era carnival traveling through the Dust Bowl, Walker noticed that no cast member had ectrodactyly. She requested, created, auditioned and won the role of Sabina, The Scorpion Lady.[1][2] Walker's portrayal of Sabina appeared in three episodes during the 2005 season. She showcases her webbed hands as the series probes public attitudes toward persons with highly visible disabilities. Walker based Sabina on characters she knew existed in the 1920s and 1930s carnival sideshows with names like Lobster Girl or Lobster Boy. These were typically the best jobs people with ectrodactyly could have, with most others being hidden away.
Walker furthered her acting career in 2006 by appearing as an inspirational woman with ectrodactyly on the fourth season premiere of Nip/Tuck.[1][3]
[edit] Purchase of Camp Casey
In June 2007, it was announced that Walker had purchased Cindy Sheehan's 5-acre (20,000 m2) "Camp Casey" site in Crawford, Texas for $87,000, in response to Sheehan's May 26, 2007 announcement that she would be selling the property and ending her antiwar activities. Sheehan handed the deed to Walker during her June 9, 2007 broadcast of "The Bree Walker show.".[4] Walker has preserved the property as a peace memorial and garden and keeps it open to antiwar protesters.[5] It is featured prominently on Walker's website.
[edit] Personal life
She has been married and divorced three times. She has a daughter with her second husband, and a son with her third ex-husband, Jim Lampley. She and her children were also featured on an episode of TLC's My Unique Family;[1] she refuses to answer questions about her silicone lip implants, which have begun to slip in recent years.[6] Her son and daughter both have ectrodactyly; Walker reacted very strongly on her blog to Oprah Winfrey's implication that a "normal" child would have all their fingers and their toes.[7]
Her surname is taken from her second husband.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f IMDb profile of Bree Walker
- ^ a b Keck, William (2005-02-16). "Embracing her 'inner freak'". USA Today (Los Angeles). http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2005-02-16-bree-walker_x.htm. Retrieved 26 February 2011.
- ^ Access Hollywood story about Bree Walker on Nip/Tuck
- ^ Cindy Sheehan Hands 'Camp Casey' Deed to Bree Walker
- ^ Brown, Angela K. (30 September 2010). "Sheehan sells Crawford, Texas, land to L.A. radio talk show host". The San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/06/09/BAG7JQCLA23.DTL.
- ^ http://www.breewalker.com/
- ^ http://www.breewalker.com/2010/07/27/shame-on-oprah/
[edit] External links
- Bree Walker at the Internet Movie Database
- Bree Walker official site
- Larry King Live transcript
- Diane Bell, "Of Bree, HBO and ectrodactyly", San Diego Union Tribune newspaper, January 25, 2005
- Ability Magazine interview and biography
- American radio personalities
- American television actors
- American television reporters and correspondents
- American film actors
- New York City television anchors
- Television news anchors in Los Angeles, California
- People from San Diego, California
- 1953 births
- Living people
- San Diego, California television anchors
