Barbara Walters, the legendary TV journalist famed for her conversations with presidents, international leaders, Hollywood stars, and creator of ‘The View’ has died at the age of 93.
The pioneering United States broadcaster had a career spanning half a century.
Barbara became the first US female network news anchor when she joined ABC News in 1976.
Barbara paved a path for women in the industry with legendary drive and on-screen presence.
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In the length of her career, she interviewed a host of music and pop culture stars as well as every US president from Richard Nixon to Donald Trump.
There was no immediate word on a cause of Walters’ death but according to publicist, Cindi Berger in a statement on Friday night, Barbara Walters passed away peacefully in her home surrounded by loved ones.
She said “She lived her life with no regrets. She was a trailblazer not only for female journalists, but for all women.”
Barbara Walters (1929-2022): pic.twitter.com/G1uwnM5fER
— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) December 31, 2022
Brief History of Barbara Walter
Walters, born in 1929, was raised by parents descended from Jewish immigrants who fled antisemitism in Eastern Europe before becoming one of the world’s most durable and talked about news hosts from the 1970s through the 2000s.
Her father Lou established a nightclub franchise and relocated the family from Boston to Miami to New York, making and losing fortunes along the way.
Walters was married four times, to three different Jewish men. She had one child, with theater impresario Lee Guber, who demanded that their daughter attend Hebrew school. While married to producer Merv Adelson — from 1981-84 and then from 1986-92
During nearly four decades at ABC, and before that at NBC, Walters’ exclusive interviews with rulers, royalty, and entertainers earned her celebrity status on par with theirs, while also putting her at the forefront of a trend in broadcast journalism that made TV reporters stars and pushed news programs to compete for higher ratings.
Walters made waves in 1976 as the first female network news anchor, earning an astounding $1 million per year. Her determination was legendary as she competed — not only with competitor networks, but also with colleagues at her own network — for each huge “catch” in a world crowded with more and more interviewees, including female journalists who followed in her footsteps.
She famously scored the first-ever groundbreaking joint interview with then-prime minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian president Anwar Sadat in November 1977 as they worked toward the historic peace deal.
Late in her career, in 1997, she gave infotainment a new twist with “The View,” a live ABC weekday program with an all-female panel for whom any topic was on the table and who welcomed guests ranging from world leaders to teen idols. A side venture and unexpected hit, Walters considered “The View” the “dessert” of her career.
In May 2014, she taped her final episode of “The View” amid much ceremony and a gathering of scores of luminaries to end a five-decade career in television (although she continued to make occasional TV appearances after that). During a commercial break, a throng of TV newswomen she had paved the way for — including Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric, Robin Roberts and Connie Chung — posed with her for a group portrait.
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