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After traveling, I came back and decided to audition for some radio commercials with them. Then
they asked if I wanted to do some television commercials with them. So, doors were just
continuing to open for me from there. And when those doors open, you have the choice of turning
around and going back or walking through them. I always went through the door. When an
opportunity comes along, I don't ask what it's going to pay or if I'm going to have to move; I say,
"Okay, let's see where this leads."
So, I was working all of the time as a freelance actress and performer. I was doing radio and TV
commercials, and I had done some musicals for organizations like the Kiwanis Club. I was
traveling, having a great life, working really nice hours, and making a lot of money.
Wood: And how did that turn into a full-time career for you?
Humphreys: At the time, there weren't a lot of women doing commercials. In Dallas, there were
maybe five of us. And when I got into television in 1970, there was Julie Benell, who had a cooking
show at WFAA, Judy Jordan at KRLD, and Teal Sulan* who worked for the PBS station. I went on
the air with Channel 8 on a morning show, called "News 8 etc...,"and I would try to be serious
when they let me read the news. I also had a job as a weather girl, but I didn't know anything
about news or weather! I just enjoyed talking to people.
But that morning show was a big hit. It was on five days a week for an hour and a half... live! We
didn't have producers or teleprompters. I was hired by a man named Don Harris, who was the
best journalist this town has ever known. Later on, he moved to Los Angeles to work at NBC, and
he was actually one of the reporters who were killed under the wing of the airplane in Guyana at
the Jonestown Massacre with Jim Jones in 1978.
Then there was Gene Thomas, another wonderful news guy, working with us at Channel 8. Gene,
Don and I just had great chemistry, and chemistry isn't something you can make happen. You just
find people who you click with, who are on the same wavelength as you, and who can finish your
sentences. It was magical, and everybody watched that news show because of it. That was great
training for me, because you really had to think on your feet. We just asked the questions and
listened. Listening is so important, because that's the way you get information. We treated the
guests on our show as though they were guests in our homes.
*Name unclear and not verified by interviewee
Wood: Can you tell us about some of the guests you were able to interview?
Humphreys: I remember getting to interview Ray Charles when he was playing a show in Dallas.
He answered the door of his hotel room with his big sunglasses and asked me if I wanted a Pepsi. I
said, "Yes sir, Mr. Charles," and we had a camera crew tape our interview that lasted, not four
minutes like most news segments, but 30 minutes to an hour. I got to spend two hours
interviewing John Wayne in an old saloon with shotguns present. I interviewed Bruce Cabot, from