More from WQED 13
Eleanor Schano: A Woman of Firsts
Clip: 3/21/2024 | 5m 1sVideo has Closed Captions
Pittsburgh's first female news anchor opened doors for women in broadcasting nationwide.
Pittsburgh's first female news anchor opened doors for women in broadcasting - here and beyond. Eleanor Schano died on November 9, 2020 at the age of 88. This video, first produced by WQED in 2009, captures the essence of a remarkable woman and her groundbreaking career.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
More from WQED 13 is a local public television program presented by WQED
More from WQED 13
Eleanor Schano: A Woman of Firsts
Clip: 3/21/2024 | 5m 1sVideo has Closed Captions
Pittsburgh's first female news anchor opened doors for women in broadcasting - here and beyond. Eleanor Schano died on November 9, 2020 at the age of 88. This video, first produced by WQED in 2009, captures the essence of a remarkable woman and her groundbreaking career.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
How to Watch More from WQED 13
More from WQED 13 is available to stream on pbs.org and the free PBS App, available on iPhone, Apple TV, Android TV, Android smartphones, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire Tablet, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, and Vizio.
Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship- Hi everyone.
I'm Eleanor Schano.
- It's a name Pittsburgh has heard for more than five decades.
- I was born here.
I have lived here my whole life, and yet studies show Americans get, - And Eleanor Schano is one of the few people still on Pittsburgh television who actually remembers when it first came to town.
- Everybody went out to the, to the hardware store and we were watching test patterns, but it was something on a screen.
You could feel that, that this was something that was really going to be big.
- Little did Eleanor know of the big role she would eventually play, but first she paid her dues, and then some.
Eleanor's TV debut came in 1951 as a model in commercials on WDTV, which later became KDKA.
Commercials led to doing the weather.
At one point, she had to wear a negligee while giving the bedtime forecast.
Then came gateway to glamor, a - Lovelier face, a more attractive figure, an insight to fashion all are yours for the asking, as is.
I literally ad-libbed a 15 minute show.
- Very few women have perfect legs.
Most women complain that their legs are too heavy, that they're too thin.
- The show was sold for syndication and seen in more than 250 television markets.
Then in 1959, Eleanor left KDKA for a new station in town, WTAE.
She still remembers the job interview.
- They said, you know, we are really hesitating because women are not dependable.
And furthermore, they're sometimes not as responsible as men and they get pregnant.
- But Eleanor's career took off at WTAE where she became the first female general assignment reporter in Pittsburgh.
Her first assignments features her personal goal, hard news, showing the all male newsroom.
She could cover it just like they could.
- You had to come back with a better story than anybody else.
If they were doing two stories, you had to do three, and that was that way.
For many, many years, - Eleanor proved herself not only in the field, but later behind the anchor desk at WIIC, now WPXI.
There she became the first solo female anchor in Pittsburgh.
- A wild police chase in - East Liberty.
Her career continued through the years back at KDKA, again, as an anchor and reporter, the host of Good Day, Pittsburgh and WPGH, host and Reporter at KQV Radio.
In the nineties, She started a long run at WQED-TV hosting a show called Age-Wise.
- It really reminded seniors about the relevance in our community and it encouraged them to embrace growing older.
- As Eleanor has said, it's tough to grow up in front of a TV camera, but it's even tougher to grow old in front of it.
- We talk sometimes about the battle now that occurs for women who are over 45, over 50 in the business.
It's not that I'm that much younger than she is that I don't hear what she's saying and didn't experience some of what she did, but, but she truly was a pioneer, truly, - And I guess what I'm measuring my life by or the women that have followed me, what she - Did was important to her, but more importantly, was important to us.
- In 2006, Eleanor branched out again writing an autobiography called Riding the Airwaves.
The book recalled more than 50 years in front of the camera.
- I can't believe this.
That life story didn't mark the end of her career.
Only another page.
- Up now Live Well, Live Long, with Eleanor Shano presented - By, in 2008, she launched Live Well Live Long with Eleanor Shano on WTAE-TV, serving as host and executive producer.
- Here's the trout.
What do I do when I get it out?
It - Wasn't just a job, it's a passion, and that's the way she really deals with everything in life.
- And here was the genie.
Everyone dreamed of, well, actually her name, Eleanor Schano.
- Eleanor Schano, a woman whose career helped to shape Pittsburgh broadcasting, paving the way for women while humbly changing history.
- My whole career was kind of serendipitous.
I'm terribly blessed to have been in this broadcast industry for so long and don't ever ask me if I'm going to retire.
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: 3/21/2024 | 7m 16s | A pioneer in children's programming, she hosted "The Children's Corner" with Fred Rogers. (7m 16s)
Lynne Hayes-Freeland: A Determined Voice
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: 3/21/2024 | 6m 53s | She has been a constant on air and a supportive voice in the African American community. (6m 53s)
Ricki Wertz: A Groundbreaking Career
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: 3/21/2024 | 7m 30s | Ricki Wertz, a pioneer in Pittsburgh television hosted multiple children's programs. (7m 30s)
Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipSupport for PBS provided by:
More from WQED 13 is a local public television program presented by WQED