Bree Walker

Bree Walker
Walker at Common Cause Media Conference 2008
Born	Patricia Lynn Nelson (1953-02-26) February 26, 1953 (age 64) Oakland, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress, Talk Show Host, News Anchor
Known for	work at WCBS-TV and KCBS-TV
Spouse(s)	Robert Smith Walker (married 1980–1990) Jim Lampley (married 1990–1999)
Children	Two
Website	BreeWalker.com

Bree Walker (born Patricia Lynn Nelson; February 26, 1953) is an American radio talk show host, actress, and disability-rights activist. She gained fame as the first on-air American television network news anchor with ectrodactyly. Walker worked as a news anchor and/or reporter in San Diego, New York City, and Los Angeles.

Walker was born in Oakland, California and raised in Austin, Minnesota. She inherited ectrodactyly, a rare genetic condition, resulting in missing fingers and toes and syndactyly resulting in them being fused together.

Established and well into her career at the ABC affiliate KGTV Channel 10 in San Diego, Walker decided to go public with her ectrodactyly after previously keeping her hands hidden inside a pair of glove-like prosthetic ones. With them now clearly visible, she continued her newscasting career at KGTV, then moving to the rock station KPRI FM. She started her television career in 1980 at KGTV as a consumer advocacy reporter.

Walker has also dabbled in acting, appearing as herself in the end-of-the-world science-fiction thriller, Without Warning (credited as Bree Walker-Lampley but referred to on screen as Bree Walker), and as television reporter, Wendy Sorenson, in The Chase. She also guest-starred on an episode of the PBS children's series, Reading Rainbow, to talk about her disability.

While watching the 2003 season of Carnivàle, an HBO television series about a Depression-era carnival traveling through the Dust Bowl, Walker noticed that no cast member had ectrodactyly. She requested, created, auditioned and won the role of Sabina the Scorpion Lady. Her portrayal of Sabina appeared in three episodes during the 2005 season. She showcased her webbed hands as the series probed public attitudes toward persons with highly visible disabilities. She based Sabina on characters she knew existed in the 1920s and 1930s carnival sideshows with names like "Lobster Girl" or "Lobster Boy." These were typically the best jobs people with ectrodactyly could have, with most others being hidden away.