The Beaver

Wherever she goes these days, blonde, curvy Lisa Howard, the American Broadcasting Company's only fulltime female reporter, runs into TV fans who want to know why she is no longer wringing out tears on a pair of daytime CBS-TV soap operas. "Acting is behind me forever," replies Lisa--but she is not completely right. Though she is a long way from The Edge of Night and As the World Turns, she still puts the soap-operatic arts to good use. Last week she was on the air seven times with breathless reports on everything from a welfare hassle in Newburgh. N.Y., to the problems of the Post Office. Though lacking polish and a real reporter's knack for the trenchant question, she packs plenty of punch: a mixture of sass, brass and self-confidence wrapped in a package guaranteed to lure males.

Irresistible Urge. Sent to Europe to cover Jackie Kennedy, Lisa cornered Premier Khrushchev for an unenlightening sidewalk chat that was trumpeted as "the only private interview the Russian leader granted during the Vienna stay." Televiewers used to seeing Lisa in her soapy serials blinked as she flung her arms around the rotund Russian, planted a kiss on his cheek and purred: "Nikita Serge-evich, I followed you to Vienna. Now, when will you let me come to Russia?" Replied the startled Khrushchev: "You are welcome there, and if you come, bring your President with you."

The New York Herald Tribune dismissed the exchange as "all puff and no pith," but ABC was--and is--happy. Says Network News Vice President James C. Hagerty, who signed Lisa to a one-year contract in May: "She works like a beaver. She'll be tops." Not all appraisals are so kind. "This dame has an irresistible urge to talk about herself," says a female rival. Complains Lisa: "I have to fight certain things because I look the way I do."

Onto the Floor. Born Dorothy Jean Guggenheim in Cambridge, Ohio, she took the stage name Lisa Howard, toured in road shows before breaking into TV. She married twice, produced two daughters, now twelve and five, quit acting last year because "I wasn't fulfilling myself." She laid siege to the Mutual Broadcasting System, finally wangled credentials to cover the Democratic nominations in Los Angeles. "They simply threw me onto the Convention floor," says Lisa. She picked herself up quickly, nabbed 38 top Democrats for interviews. "Has anybody turned you down?'' asked California Governor Pat Brown admiringly as she herded him into a recording booth.

Few did, and Lisa used aggressiveness and looks to move onward. At the U.N. last fall, she headed Khrushchev off at an exit, got a 1 hour-48 minute interview. Mutual proudly aired 4 minutes of her tape, but suspended Lisa after listeners protested that the interview--primed by such naive questions as "What is your definition of freedom?"--was packed with propaganda for K. Furious, Lisa fought back. Within a day she was reinstated. Says Lisa: "If some people resent me, maybe it's because I work harder than anyone else. I'll get beaten up and practically kill myself to get a story." Sometimes, her viewers wonder if it is worth the effort.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.