Did Barbara Walters Ask Katharine Hepburn What Tree She'd Be?

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987: (L-R) Katharine Hepburn, Barbara Walters on '20/20' on Sept. 18th. (Photo by Walt Disney Television via Getty Images)

“If you were a tree what kind of tree would you be?” That’s the question that Barbara Walters has been rumored to have asked Katherine Hepburn in her 1981 interview. Walters became the butt of jokes and water cooler fodder, but when it comes down to it she didn’t really ask that question, at least not in that context. The question is asked in the interview but it’s not as weird as it sounds, Walters doesn’t read it off a card or anything. The entire interview is extremely fascinating and a fun watch and through a misremembering of the facts the nuance of the question has gone down in history as one of the worst questions asked in an interview.