Cheri Oteri pays tribute to Barbara Walters in NYE Special – Hollywood Life
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- January 1, 2023
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Barbara Walters was often portrayed with great humor and flattery, and Saturday Night Live alum Cheri Oteri was the cream of the crop about the late journalist. To show how much Barbara meant to her after the icon’s death at the age of 93, Cheri paid tribute by appearing on CNN’s New Year’s Eve special with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen.
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Cheri admitted that before hearing of her death, she had planned to do her iconic SNL impression of the icon when she “started a podcast,” as Cheri knew there was “no modern news medium that she could do with.” she didn’t evolve”. But out of respect, she didn’t make the impression, instead paying tribute to the woman who was “part of my childhood” and giving her the blessing of having the “great responsibility” of parodying her on the show.
Cheri Oteri, who memorably portrayed Barbara Walters on Saturday Night Live, reflects on the TV legend after her death. #CNNNYE pic.twitter.com/85YYnZJd8u
— CNN (@CNN) January 1, 2023
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During her tenure at SNL, Cheri played a smorgasbord of characters and impressions, but none other than her portrayal of Barbara Walters became the gifted actress’ calling card. She wowed the Studio 8H live audience 23 times on the show!
She even repeated the impersonation for CNN’s 2020 New Year’s Eve party hosted by Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper. “Oh, Andrew, Anderson, it was once again a pleasure for you to have me on your alcohol-soaked pedestrian New Year’s special during the apocalypse we call 2020,” said Barbara von Cheri on the show. “Now I’m afraid I’ll have to reduce my exposure time with you two because I’m being classified as high risk – or just high risk at this point.” Since we are still on the home stretch of holy hell, we call it 2020.”
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And Barbara co-signed Cheri’s impersonation! On her final episode of The View in 2014, Barbara even featured a pre-taped segment where she is interviewed by Cheri, who plays Barbara! Check it out above!
Barbara’s death was confirmed by her rep in a statement to HollywoodLife, which said the star “passed away peacefully at her home surrounded by loved ones.” The rep added: “She has lived her life with no regrets. She was a trailblazer not just for women journalists, but for all women.”
After her death, many other celebs and journalists lucky enough to work with the icon took to social media to pay tribute to her. Read all the heartwarming messages here.
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