en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bree_Walker Bree Walker (born Patricia Lynn Nelson; February 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 missing fingers and toes and syndactyly resulting in fingers and toes being fused together. 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 hands hidden inside a pair of glove-like prosthetic hands. With her hands now clearly visible, she continued her newscasting career at KGTV, then moving to the rock station KPRI FM. She started her television career in 1980 at KGTV as a consumer advocacy reporter. 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 childrens 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] Walkers 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] Bree Walker shares the on-camera narrator duties with Jon Elliott for the feature length documentary film, Save KLSD: Media Consolidation and Local Radio which was first screened in April 2012. The film looks at the shrinking number of corporations who control the majority of what Americans watch and listen to on TV, radio, newspapers, and magazines. The film was over four years in the making and was produced by Jon Monday and Jennifer Douglas, distributed by mondayMEDIA. Walker is also in the film as expert, speaking at a media reform conference.[4][5][6][7] In June 2007, it was announced that Walker had purchased Cindy Sheehans 5-acre (20,000 m2) Camp Casey site in Crawford, Texas for $87,000, in response to Sheehans 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..[8] Walker has preserved the property as a peace memorial and garden and keeps it open to antiwar protesters.[9] It is featured prominently on Walkers website. Walker has been married and divorced three times. She has a daughter with her second husband, and a son with her third husband, Jim Lampley. She and her children were also featured on an episode of TLCs My Unique Family;[1] she refuses to answer questions about her silicone lip implants, which have begun to slip in recent years.[10] Her son and daughter both have ectrodactyly; Walker reacted very strongly on her blog to Oprah Winfreys implication that a normal child would have all their fingers and their toes.[11] Her surname is taken from her second husband.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Feb 2014 11:13:45 +0000
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