LAST LUNCHEON NOV. 19, 2010
Honoree: Rona Barrett Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters President Sam Lovullo presented the coveted Art Gilmore Career Achievement Award to noted celebrity journalist and businesswoman Rona Barrett at its November 19th celebrity luncheon. She is one of the best known pioneers and innovators in entertainment reporting and publishing.
In 1986, Rona Barrett bought her first ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley and commuted back and forth to Los Angeles until 1991. It was then that she decided to reside on the Central Coast full time. She had spent three decades of her life on television, starting her career on the local Los Angeles station, KABC-TV, graduating to their five owned and operated stations around the country and finally to the network in 1975 where she inaugurated “Good Morning America.”
Throughout her career spanning more than 30 years as a vastly successful entertainment reporter, commentator and producer, Rona Barrett has been both an eyewitness to and an expert on the ever-changing world of entertainment and celebrities in the news including sports figures and political leaders.
A true pioneer and innovator in this challenging landscape, Ms. Barrett has achieved a number of historic firsts along the way:
•The first to recognize there was a new and larger generation of young people than America had ever seen before with interests in stars and celebrities different from their parents. She called them Young Hollywood. They included young stars such as Natalie Wood, Elvis Presley, Bobby Darin, Fabian, Frankie Avalon, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and many more. Rona began covering these young stars for The Bell-McClure-NANA newspaper syndicate as the youngest columnist to ever report on Hollywood and other entertainment personalities.
•The first to bring entertainment reporting to the world of television when she began broadcasting in 1966 for KABC, the ABC owned and operated station in Los Angeles.
•The first to bring in-depth entertainment reporting and celebrity interviews to the world of morning television when she helped inaugurate “Good Morning America” in 1975 as its Arts and Entertainment Editor.
•The first entertainment journalist to edit a stable of magazines bearing her name in the 60’s and 70’s, including Rona Barrett’s Hollywood, Rona Barrett’s Preview, and Rona Barrett’s Daytimers.
•The first entertainment journalist to cover the business of show business, first on “Good Morning America” followed by NBC’s “Today Show” and “Entertainment Tonight” as well as the publisher of Hollywood’s first insider newsletter, The Barrett Report. She ruled this domain so forcefully that David McClintick, the author of “Indecent Exposure,” the best-selling book about the David Begelman/Columbia Pictures scandal, used many of her news reports to open each chapter of his book.
•The first entertainment reporter to be called upon as a consultant for Fortune 500 companies with entertainment holdings.
•She is also the author of three books including her best-selling intimate autobiography, Miss Rona, one of the first “tell all” autobiographies.
She founded the Rona Barrett Lavender Company in Santa Ynez and became a small producer of lavender bath, beauty, food and aromatherapy products. The company follows a model of using celebrity-branded consumer goods to generate funds and raise awareness of non-profit causes. A portion of all company proceeds are donated to the Rona Barrett Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the aid and support of senior citizens in need.