Image Credit: Everett Collection
Barbara Walters was often impersonated with great humor and adulation, and Saturday Night Live alum Cheri Oteri’s take on the late journalist was the cream of the crop. To show how much Barbara meant to her following the icon’s death at the age of 93, Cheri paid tribute while appearing on CNN’s New Year’s Eve special with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen.
Cheri admitted that before hearing about her passing, she had planned to do her iconic SNL impression of the icon as she ‘started a podcast’ as Cheri knew that there was ‘no modern news medium that she didn’t evolve with’. But out of respect, she didn’t do the impression, but rather paid tribute to the woman who was ‘part of the fabric of my childhood’ and gave her blessing to have the ‘big responsibility’ of parodying her on the show.
Cheri Oteri, who memorably portrayed Barbara Walters on “Saturday Night Live,” remembers the TV legend following her death. #CNNNYE https://t.co/oouPLpZMfq pic.twitter.com/85YYnZJd8u
— CNN (@CNN) January 1, 2023
During her tenure on SNL, Cheri performed a smorgasbord of characters and impressions, but none other than her impersonation of Barbara Walters became the gifted actress’ calling card. She wowed the live Studio 8H audiences with it a reported 23 times on the show!
She even reprised the impersonation for the 2020 CNN New Year’s Eve celebration hosted by Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper. “Oh, Andrew,
