Two contemporary tv personalities with very different backgrounds and approaches have more in common than you might expect.

Tom Bergeron (1955 -) and Barbara Walters (1929 -) are working in American television at the same time, perhaps performing to similar audiences. Their very different climbs to the top may have sprung from related springs.

Both personalities began their careers on the east coast of the United States, with roots in Boston. Neither had much of a formal eduction, and that counted against them from time to time. Both have worked in front of the camera as hosts – even specifically as television morning show hosts – and behind the camera as producers. Each has been faced with the fine balance of weighing counter-offers in tv networks’ attempts to lure them into high profile positions – offers weighed with help from their talent agents.

Neither personality is very religious and each has suffered debilitating and memorable back spasms during high stress points in their career. That is where the similarities end.

Bergeron started his career in radio, spending a long time yo-yoing between media work and “real jobs” that he resented. He even tried to make a go of professional mime – a performance skill which still lends to his improvisational techniques on live tv today. Bergeron is much more a performer than Walters would ever claim to be, and he’s been carried largely due to his sense of humour.

Walters started her career in writing and always gravitated to media work, though she did work in other related fields, like public relations. She considers herself a bona fide journalist. Walters has done more than her fair share of work overseas and takes herself and her work extremely seriously. She has done as many or more interviews than any other broadcaster on the planet.

Bergeron remains married to the mother of his children and claims to have made career decisions based on putting family first. Walters claims to have wanted to put family first, but admits she feels incapable of maintaining a healthy marriage, having been wed and divorced three times. Walters and her only daughter now share a close relationship, though they experienced a very rough patch during the daughter’s teenage years.

Bergeron had to be pushed (by his wife, his agent, the networks) to advance his career. Walters had no one pushing her but herself.