Rose Ann Scamardella (born July 20, 1947) is a former anchorwoman of WABC-TV's Eyewitness News in New York City, and the inspiration for Gilda Radner's character "Roseanne Roseannadanna" on Saturday Night Live.
[1] Rose Ann Scamardella was born in Brooklyn, New York City, and graduated from Marymount Manhattan College with a B.A.
Howard Weinberg, a producer then with the Educational Broadcasting Corporation, owner of WNET, recounts that he "responded to concerns for newsroom diversity and [the WABC] News Director's complaints that he couldn't find an Italian-American correspondent; [I] found Rose Ann, ... coached her, worked with her.
"[4] Scamardella said in 1975 that while she was employed at the export firm and working to get her master's degree in sociology at New York University, "I get this call that the Human Rights Commission is looking for an Italian-American girl.
[5] She returned to New York local television in May 1999 to present a two-part report on the plight of Albanian refugees in Brooklyn for WNYW-TV's Ten O' Clock News.