{"id":8869,"date":"2018-06-19T06:00:19","date_gmt":"2018-06-19T10:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=8869"},"modified":"2018-06-19T09:42:44","modified_gmt":"2018-06-19T13:42:44","slug":"ricki-wertz-on-tv-metoo-and-leaving-pittsburgh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2018\/06\/19\/ricki-wertz-on-tv-metoo-and-leaving-pittsburgh\/","title":{"rendered":"Ricki Wertz on TV, #MeToo, and leaving Pittsburgh"},"content":{"rendered":"

One day early in her television career, Ricki Wertz was knocked over by a stranger on her way to the bank. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe grabbed me and picked me up and and put me on the step and said, \u2018Sorry, Rick, I\u2019m in a hurry,\u2019\u201d Ms. Wertz recalls. She stood there stunned. She had never seen the man before, but he knew her name.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat was so powerful,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve never forgotten the importance of going into someone\u2019s home, because you\u2019re part of their life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Ricki Wertz and her costar, Copper. (Courtesy of Ricki Wertz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ms. Wertz made her first appearances in Pittsburgh homes in the late \u201950s. One of her first major television gigs was an evening news segment in which she sang updates about the weather forecast<\/span> \u2014 while dressed in a negligee. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWith the #MeToo movement, I\u2019m ashamed of it,\u201d Ms. Wertz recalled with a laugh. \u201cIt was a weird time. Fifteen minutes of the news was me singing weather. That\u2019s how bad it was.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI would wear Bermuda shorts and sneakers under the negligee to feel more \u2018me,\u2019\u201d she added. <\/span><\/p>\n

By the time she became WTAE\u2019s scantily-clad weatherwoman, Ms. Wertz was already acquainted with show business. <\/span><\/p>\n

At the age of 17, she left Wilkes-Barre, the coal mining town where she was born (\u201cI have anthracite coal dust behind my ears\u201d), to train at the Pittsburgh Playhouse on a scholarship. There, she shared a room with actress Shirley Jones, fine-tuned her singing and stage presence, and performed in productions like \u201cThree to One\u201d and \u201cCinderella.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I went from there to television,\u201d she said. At the studio, she met her husband and lifelong collaborator, Tom Bordenkircher. <\/span><\/p>\n

Bordenkircher, then known as Tom Borden \u2014 \u201can artist had to write your name after \u2018directed by\u2019 and the screens were so small,\u201d Ms. Wertz explains \u2014 was a promising director in the blossoming industry. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Ricki and Copper make an appearance in town.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt was exciting and new and nobody had done it before.\u201d Ms. Wertz recalls of the television industry. \u201cIt was a really fun time.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cExciting\u201d might be an understatement. Ms. Wertz and her husband were at work during the decade that defined television. In 1950, just 9 percent of American households had televisions. When \u201cThe Ricki & Copper Show\u201d\u2014a children\u2019s program that starred Ms. Wertz and her red-haired dog \u2014debuted in 1959, that figure was inching close to 90 percent.<\/span><\/p>\n

On each episode of \u201cRicki & Copper,\u201d<\/span> Ms. Wertz would host a handful of local kids for some singing, joke-telling, and playing with local television\u2019s favorite dog. And watching the show was almost as exciting as appearing on it. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn a city the size of Pittsburgh … if you were on local television everyone knew you, of course,\u201d says Harry Kloman, a journalism professor at the University of Pittsburgh who appeared on \u201cRicki & Copper\u201d when he was 5 years old. \u201cIt was a small city and people tended to watch local shows. They wanted to see their friends and neighbors on TV.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
On the set of “Ricki & Copper.” (Courtesy of Ricki Wertz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But it wasn\u2019t all song and dance. As the negligee anecdote might suggest, the industry was fraught with hostile gender dynamics. Ms. Wertz was one of few women to host her own program, and she remembers that they were \u201cway underpaid.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe did not get the contracts the men did,\u201d she says. And on top of everything else else, they had to look pretty \u2014 all the time. \u201cManagement made no bones about the fact that you were not to appear in public with slacks on.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But the network executives weren\u2019t the only ones. The journalists who wrote about Wertz were similarly fixated on her appearance. When Wertz acted in stage productions early in her career, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette referred to her as \u201cPretty Ricki Wertz.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

The Pittsburgh Press called her a \u201cgirl of talent and looks\u201d and noted that she probably received \u201cmore invitations to high school dances than any other girl in Pittsburgh.\u201d In an especially prurient article, a reporter at The Press wrote that she was \u201cscintillating\u201d and therefore \u201ca difficult person for a man to interview.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A segment of a profile from 1970.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe were trying to break into a world where a lot of it was your looks, which I found offensive,\u201d Ms. Wertz says. \u201cThe #MeToo movement, I really hope it goes [well]. We all have stories. But it\u2019s getting better.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

After \u201cRicki & Copper,\u201d Ms. Wertz went on to host \u201cJunior High Quiz,\u201d a trivia competition for middle schoolers, for 20 years. Then, in 1982, she pivoted to a new network\u2014 and a whole new kind of programming. <\/span><\/p>\n

The new project was \u201cThe Chemical People,\u201d a program produced by WQED that aimed to get communities talking about drug and alcohol abuse. Thousands of communities across America convened to watch the program. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe just wanted people to talk,\u201d Ms. Wertz says. \u201cYou can\u2019t say no to something if you deny it\u2019s even happening.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Ricki Wertz and her guests on set. (Courtesy of Ricki Wertz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These days, Ms. Wertz lives with her husband in Chicago. She\u2019s still getting the hang of the public transportation system, and sometimes schedules meetings on Eastern Standard Time by accident. \u201cOur heart and soul is in Pittsburgh,\u201d she declares. \u201cI\u2019m never going to root for the Bears.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As a person who witnessed \u2014 and was part of \u2014 a seismic shift in mass media six decades ago, Ms. Wertz has a unique perspective on the ways we communicate now. \u201cMy world was television; your world is computers,\u201d she said. <\/span><\/p>\n

She said she worries about people who believe what they read online \u201cwithout question,\u201d because \u201cthey\u2019re being bombarded with stuff, from irresponsible people with power.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ms. Wertz recalls one of her goals from hosting \u201cRicki & Copper\u201d: to help children understand television, and how it works.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a set that had a bridge. You thought we went into the woods,\u201d she says of the show\u2019s idyllic woodland backdrop. \u201cIt was to show them it was a set. It\u2019s fantasy. It\u2019s not real.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

T<\/em>hese pictures were brought to our attention by Ricki Wertz’s friend, Mary Beth Mueller.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One day early in her television career, Ricki Wertz was knocked over by a stranger…<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesRicki Wertz on TV, #MeToo, and leaving Pittsburgh<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":8863,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1066],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/RickiAndCopper003.jpg?fit=2739%2C1995&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2544,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/09\/07\/dec-1996-rwandan-hutu-refugees-move-along-a\/","url_meta":{"origin":8869,"position":0},"title":"Rwandan Hutu refugees move along a highway in Tanzania, 1996","date":"September 7, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"\"It was a very difficult photo to get...\"","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/tumblr_m9xxlq7dwR1rr5swxo1_r4_1280.jpg?fit=720%2C492&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1949,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/03\/20\/celebrating-springs-arrival-in-pittsburgh\/","url_meta":{"origin":8869,"position":1},"title":"Celebrating spring\u2019s arrival in Pittsburgh","date":"March 20, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"According to the calendar, today, March 20, 2013, is the first official day of spring.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/tumblr_mjxtck8WXd1rr5swxo4_1280.jpg?fit=793%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2518,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/09\/14\/oct-27-1952-ikes-balloon-grounded-general\/","url_meta":{"origin":8869,"position":2},"title":"Ike\u2019s balloon grounded in Pittsburgh","date":"September 14, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"\"Members of the Citizens for Eisenhower Committee said their silver-colored gas bag ordinarily is flown at 500 feet.\u201d","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/tumblr_ma9gdziEdx1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C978&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9320,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2019\/01\/18\/pittsburgh-snow-old-photos-history\/","url_meta":{"origin":8869,"position":3},"title":"Stuck cars and snow angels: Photos of past Pittsburgh snow storms","date":"January 18, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Pittsburghers have enjoyed an unusually\u00a0mild winter so far this year. So with meteorologists\u00a0monitoring\u00a0a winter storm\u00a0set to hit the area this weekend, we thought everyone could use a reminder of what a snowy Pittsburgh actually looks like.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/snow006.jpg?fit=1200%2C1023&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7121,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2016\/12\/29\/best-pictures-of-the-year-from-1964\/","url_meta":{"origin":8869,"position":4},"title":"Best pictures of the year …. from 1964.","date":"December 29, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Some images are somber, others are fun and one is stunning.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Digs.20161229_BestOf1964001.jpg?fit=1200%2C858&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":335,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/08\/22\/mysterious-images-of-pittsburghs-past\/","url_meta":{"origin":8869,"position":5},"title":"Mysterious images of Pittsburgh’s past","date":"August 22, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"The thousands of miscellaneous photos contained caption details on the back. Two, however, did not.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/tumblr_naohzo0Jn21rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C910&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8869"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8869"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8869\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8875,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8869\/revisions\/8875"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}