'The View' co-creator and Barbara Walters producer Bill Geddie, who grew up in OKC, dies

When Joyce Jackson moved into the news department at Oklahoma City ABC affiliate KOCO 5, Bill Geddie was the person she could ask all the "scary questions."

"'Where do I stand? What do I do now? Which camera?' ... He was able to tell me, to do that, and make me feel comfortable," recalled Jackson, a member of the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame regarded as the Sooner State's first Black woman television journalist.

"He was simply a joy to work with, and we missed him dearly when he decided to leave and go to ABC."

Geddie, who went on to an award-winning career working with television icon Barbara Walters and co-creating the long-running daytime talk show "The View," died July 20 at his home in Rancho Mirage, California. He died of heart-related issues just days after his 68th birthday.

Award-winning producer grew up and started his career in OKC

A native of San Antonio, Texas, Geddie grew up in Oklahoma City and graduated from John Marshall High School in 1973. He studied communications and film at the University of Texas at Austin, earning his bachelor's degree in 1977.

As he received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2012 Daytime Emmy Awards, Geddie recalled that his television career got off to a humble start in Oklahoma City.

"I was buffing the floors of a TV station in Oklahoma City — KOCO-TV — and I looked up at the studio monitors, and there was Barbara Walters. And I thought at that time, 'Someday, I'm gonna be a thorn in that woman's side. I'm gonna make her absolutely sick of me.' And it's happened. Only in America," he joked at the time.

It didn't take long for Geddie's talents as a cameraman and storyteller to become apparent in OKC, recalled fellow KOCO photojournalist Chris Lee.

"He started on ... the floor crew — that was where you could get your start in TV with no experience — and he buffed the floors, and he ran and pushed the studio cameras around. After he'd done that about six months or so, they hired him on in the newsroom to run camera for news," recalled Lee, who retired earlier this month from KOCO after a 46-year career as a photojournalist and storm chaser.

"I look back on some of the pictures that he created with the camera — compared to what we have now with computers and digital, what we could do was pretty elementary — and he managed to get an awful lot out of what we could do at the time, just making the camera work for him."

Bill Geddie 'had visions' as an OKC photojournalist

Both Geddie and Lee met their respective wives — reporter Barbara (Pratt) Geddie and assignment editor Ann Dee (Glazer) Lee — at KOCO. Lee recalled they all started working there at roughly the same time in the 1970s, a time of transition for the station.

"We had a lot of people that were just starting out, and we hung together. ... Both of our girlfriends — now our wives — sang, while we attempted to play (guitar). Bill was a pretty good player; I wasn't. We had a guy who was our harmonica player, another guy who played dulcimer, and another guy who played bass. We'd get together at least once a week," Lee recalled.

"Bill introduced me to Jimmy Buffett, who at that time, I'd never heard of. That was life-changing."

One of their music videos can still be found on YouTube: Geddie sings and Lee stars in "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Shoot Newstape."

"Bill saw things differently. Bill had visions. ... I figured he'd be making movies somewhere. It just seemed to be that kind of talent," Lee said. "But he went on to other visions in television."

Emmy winner co-founded 'The View' with Barbara Walters

Geddie did eventually make a foray into film, penning the screenplay for the 1996 sci-fi mystery "Unforgettable," starring Ray Liotta, Linda Fiorentino and Peter Coyote.

Before that, though, his journalism career took him around the country, including an award-winning stint as a news cameraman and editor at WKYC in Cleveland, followed by a shift into a producer's role at Westinghouse's "PM Magazine" in San Francisco. He then moved to New York and joined ABC's "Good Morning America" as a producer.

In 1988, Geddie embarked on a long partnership with the trailblazing Walters when he was hired to direct and produce her famed prime time specials, earning several Emmy nominations.

In 1997, he and Walters co-founded "The View," envisioned as a midmorning talk show that would bring together a diverse, multi-generational panel of women to talk about the hot topics of the day as well as interview actors, musicians and politicians.

"Bill’s work as the co-creator of 'The View' on ABC changed the landscape of daytime television," said KOCO President and General Manager Brent Hensley in a statement to The Oklahoman.

Geddie was executive producer of "The View" for 17 seasons, winning a Daytime Emmy in 2003 for his work on the show.

Producer remembered for his good humor and supportive advice

Walters died Dec. 30, 2022, at the age of 93. But several other past and present co-hosts on "The View" paid tribute to Geddie on the show this week.

"He loved music, he loved comedy and he loved his co-workers," recalled Whoopi Goldberg. "He could be crabby. But he was fair, and he was funny."

Joy Behar reminisced about the comedy bits that Geddie and the co-hosts used to perform on the show. Known as the "Viewmaster," Geddie dressed as a variety of colorful characters, including Nosferatu, Daddy Warbucks, and the Great and Powerful Oz.

"We had so many laughs with him," Behar said. "I'm always grateful to the guy for hiring me. He and Barbara hired me, despite the fact that my reputation in the business was that I was too New York. ... And Barbara and Bill were like, 'So what? We like her.'"

Now the host of her own syndicated daytime talk show, "Sherri," former "The View" co-host Sherri Shepherd said Geddie changed her life by hiring her.

"I was a single mother, just divorced, a stand-up comic, didn't know a thing about politics, and somehow he believed that people would relate to me," Shepherd said. "He texted me advice almost weekly, and every good thing that happened, I would call him and go 'Bill, Bill!' He was just a champion for me, and he was a friend. And he helped me find my voice."

In Oklahoma City, Jackson also remembered Geddie as a good guy and a great co-worker.

"When you're just getting started, the people that stay in your psyche are the people that were always a help and always there to be supportive of you," said Jackson, who was a talk show host, reporter and producer at KOCO from 1970 to 1982.

"He was very creative and very easy to work with, just a delight."

Although he and Geddie lost contact for a number of years, Lee said they reconnected on social media. When Geddie returned to OKC in spring for the John Marshall High School Class of 1973's 50-year reunion, Lee arranged for some of the old KOCO crew to get together, too. But the storm chaser missed the gathering to cover the April 19 Shawnee tornado.

"I thought maybe this summer we might get to go out there since I was going to be retired. And now he's gone," Lee said. "He was very talented, but he was just a great guy, fun to be around and fun to work with."

Geddie is survived by his wife of 44 years, Barbara, and their two daughters, Allison and Lauren.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: 'The View' co-creator Bill Geddie, who got his start in OKC, dies