Roberta Frances Wygant (nee Connolly; November 22, 1926 – February 18, 2024) was an American television news reporter, film critic, talk show host, and interviewer who worked for

Fort Worth Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, television station

KXAS-TV KXAS-TV (channel 5) is a television station licensed to Fort Worth, Texas, United States, serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is owned and operated by the NBC television network through its NBC Owned Television Stations division alon ...

(originally known as WBAP-TV) for over 70 years. She was known for her filmed interviews with celebrities.

Early years

The granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Connolly, Wygant was born in Lafayette,

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. She described her ancestry as French, Irish, and Texan. She had two younger brothers, Gordon and Carl Connolly. Their mother died of cancer when Wygant was 16 years old. She remained a full-time student while caring for her mother during her extended illness, after which she maintained the home for her father and her brothers. Her mother's death discouraged her from pursuing a career as a physician, which she had originally intended. A trip to the

1939 New York World's Fair The 1939 New York World's Fair (also known as the 1939–1940 New York World's Fair) was an world's fair, international exposition at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, New York, United States. The fair included exhibitio ...

sparked her interest in television as she visited an experimental TV studio and appeared in front of a camera. Wygant graduated from St. Francis High School and from

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

in 1947, majoring in media broadcasting as well as psychology. At Purdue, she was a member of

Alpha Epsilon Rho Alpha Epsilon Rho () is an international scholastic honor society recognizing academic achievement among students in the field of electronic media (including web/internet technologies, broadcasting, mass communication, radio, television, cable, a ...

Alpha Xi Delta Alpha Xi Delta (, often referred to as A-''"Zee"''-D ) is a women's fraternity founded on April 17, 1893. Baird's Manual is also available online hereThe Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage at Lombard College in Galesburg, Illinois, United Sta ...

sorority, Gold Peppers, Purdue Playshop, and the

WBAA WBAA (920 AM) and WBAA-FM (101.3 FM) are jointly operated non-commercial educational radio stations licensed to West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, both serving the Lafayette metro area and the Indianapolis area with public radio ...

staff.

Career

Wygant started her journalism career working for WBAP-TV in 1948. Her hiring occurred two weeks before the station began broadcasting. She began as a writer, creating copy for "commercials, intros to shows, whatever needed to be written." KXAS NBC 5 2015

Later, Wygant worked in front of cameras, helping hosts of programs. She gained her own talk program, ''Dateline'', in 1960 after she filled in for a week when the original host was sick with the flu. She interviewed a variety of guests on it. This made her the first woman in the southwestern United States to host a general-interest talk program. Around 1975, after a change in station ownership, Wygant began working in the news department, particularly teaming with Chip Moody on ''Inside Area 5'', which featured interviews and coverage of community activities. Beginning in 1977, she was co-host of the local component of ''

The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon The ''MDA Labor Day Telethon'' was an annual telethon held on (starting the night before and throughout) Labor Day in the United States to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). The Muscular Dystrophy Association was founded in ...

''. Wygant was a founding member of the National Broadcast Film Critics Association.

Celebrity interviews

Over the course of her career in television, Wygant interviewed hundreds of celebrities. These included

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

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Redd Foxx John Elroy Sanford (December 9, 1922 – October 11, 1991), better known by his stage name Redd Foxx, was an American stand-up comedian and actor. Foxx gained success with his raunchy nightclub act before and during the civil rights movemen ...

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was an American comedian, actor, entertainer and producer with a career that spanned nearly 80 years and achievements in vaudeville, network radio, television, and USO Tours. He appeared ...

, and

Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress of film, television, and theater. Regarded as one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood history, she was noted for her willingness to play unsympatheti ...

. The interviews mainly focused on the celebrity's latest work, such as an actor's most recent film. In preparation for an interview, she said that she did the necessary research independently. Her interviewing style was praised by the likes of

Stanley Kramer Stanley Earl Kramer (September 29, 1913February 19, 2001) was an American film director and producer, responsible for making many of Hollywood's most famous " message films" (he called his movies ''heavy dramas'') and a liberal movie icon.

and

Dustin Hoffman Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for Dustin Hoffman filmography, his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable charac ...

Personal life

In June 1947, she married Philip Warren Wygant at age 20. They had met at Purdue when she worked at the radio station at which he was program supervisor. He died in April 1986 at age 60 due to liver disease. In addition to their professional activities, they operated a tree farm in

east Texas East Texas is a broadly defined cultural, geographic, and ecological region in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas that consists of approximately 38 counties. It is roughly divided into Northeast Texas, Northeast, Southeast Texas, Sout ...

. The couple did not have any children. In early 2019, she published her autobiography, ''Talking to the Stars: Bobbie Wygant's Seventy Years in Television''. Wygant was a Roman Catholic. Wygant died on February 18, 2024, at the age of 97.

Awards

Local and regional awards for Wygant included the Texas Arts Alliance's award for outstanding coverage of the arts in 1978. She was named the Zonta Club of Fort Worth's executive woman of the year in 1980. Nationally, in 2000, the National Broadcast Film Critics Association presented Wygant with the Critic's Critic Award. She received the

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

Gold Circle in 2004, honoring people with longevity in the television industry. In 2014, she won the

Gracie Award The Gracie Awards are awards presented by the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation (AWM) in the United States, to celebrate and honor programming created for women, by women, and about women, as well as individuals who have made exemplary contr ...

for Outstanding Reporter/Correspondent from the

Alliance for Women In Media The Alliance for Women in Media (AWM) is a nonprofit organization created by women in 1951 that works to support women in the media in the United States. About The mission of the organization is to "advance the impact of women in broadcasting an ...

. Wygant started working only part-time in 2002, having worked full-time for over 50 years up until then. She was a recipient of Alpha Xi Delta's Woman of Distinction Award.

References

External links

*
The Bobbie Wygant Archive contains clips of some of Wygant's interviews with celebrities
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wygant, Bobbie 1926 births 2024 deaths American television reporters and correspondents American television hosts Purdue University alumni American television talk show hosts American people of French descent American people of Irish descent American Roman Catholics People from Lafayette, Indiana Catholics from Indiana Catholics from Texas