Barbara Walters

Over more than a half century, the driven celebrity journalist built one of the most remarkable careers in TV news. She was 93.

"She loved not only making serious news but she loved the lighter side. After being widely mocked for asking actress Katherine Hepburn what kind of tree she would want to be, Walters defended herself by noting it was Hepburn who made the comparison. She was the first million dollars a year network anchor. "I think the idea of a woman, and particularly a woman who had already done not only done news, but fashion, and also, so called back then, women's issues, I think he found deeply offensive to him." That impression was the price of success. [She] knew that people were interested in these things and she never felt that she should look down on them for that." In 1974, she became the show's first female co-host. in Libya of Moammar Gadhafi killed," Walters said during the interview. Barbara Walters was born on September 25, 1929, just a month before the Wall Street crash that kicked off the Great Depression. [interview was the first Assad gave to an American journalist ](http://abcnews.go.com/International/transcript-abcs-barbara-walters-interview-syrian-president-bashar/story?id=15099152)since the uprising began in his country. In 1999, she scored the first big interview with Monica Lewinsky. And if you remember Walters as a journalist who blurred the lines between news and entertainment, there is some truth to that.

The long-time ABC broadcast heavyweight died at her home in New York.

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Pioneering television journalist Barbara Walters, who upended a male-dominated industry as the first woman to anchor an evening news show in the United ...

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Over more than a half century, the driven celebrity journalist built one of the most remarkable careers in TV news. She was 93.

After being widely mocked for asking actress Katherine Hepburn what kind of tree she would want to be, Walters defended herself by noting it was Hepburn who made the comparison. "She loved not only making serious news but she loved the lighter side. She was married four times to three men, had a rocky five-year affair with then Senator Edward Brooke of Massachusetts, and dated other prominent figures. She was the first million dollars a year network anchor. That impression was the price of success. In 1974, she became the show's first female co-host. [interview was the first Assad gave to an American journalist ](http://abcnews.go.com/International/transcript-abcs-barbara-walters-interview-syrian-president-bashar/story?id=15099152)since the uprising began in his country. Barbara Walters was born on September 25, 1929, just a month before the Wall Street crash that kicked off the Great Depression. in Libya of Moammar Gadhafi killed," Walters said during the interview. In 1999, she scored the first big interview with Monica Lewinsky. [The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2006](http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=2716887&page=1)" saying, "Those lips, those eyes, that body. And if you remember Walters as a journalist who blurred the lines between news and entertainment, there is some truth to that.

First female network news anchor in US achieved a celebrity status on par with the rulers, royalty and entertainers she interviewed.

“I always thought I’d be a writer for television. The circumstances of her death were not given. “I never expected this!” Walters said in 2004, taking measure of her success.

Disney Legend Barbara Walters, the pioneering television journalist who spent 38 years at ABC News, passed away this evening at her home in New York.

She also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She became a co-host of the program without the official title in 1963, but in 1974, NBC formally designated her as the program’s first female co-host. After 25 years as host and chief correspondent of ABC News’ 20/20, Walters left the show in 2004, but she remained an active member of the news division and network for years thereafter. She made journalism history with the first joint interview with Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin in 1977. She not only interviewed the world’s most fascinating figures, but she became a part of their world. I had the pleasure of calling Barbara a colleague for more than three decades, but more importantly, I was able to call her a dear friend.

Walters was a broadcasting trailblazer who helped develop many modern TV templates. Here are some of the most memorable moments from her influential career.

[behind-the-scenes drama](https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/elisabeth-hasselbeck-quit-the-view-listen-fight-barbara-walters-audio-1203180312/) — [arguments](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc4SvJdfDZc), a revolving door of panelists, hosts [storming off](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVrR2j7uwjs) the air — has occasionally overshadowed the show itself. These high-profile [conversations](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuDnX63GSA8) spawned multiple spinoffs, including nearly 30 years of highly rated [Oscar-night programs](https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/04/arts/television/04walters.html), starting in 1981; the annual [“10 Most Fascinating People” specials](https://abcnews.go.com/2020/video/barbara-walters-fascinating-people-began-21272019), starting in 1993; and a series of [intermittent one-off interviews](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsL-QFAzRkw&app=desktop), such as with [Patrick Swayze](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsL-QFAzRkw&app=desktop). [former President Richard Nixon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZk2xuJN8kQ). In the late 1970s, she went to Cuba for an [extensive](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TC6xcQx4l7Y) [interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TC6xcQx4l7Y) with Fidel Castro (drawing the attention of the C.I.A. Trump](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji3qna9ZVgs) (when Trump was still a candidate). (Walters [often](https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/barbara-walters-retirement-2014-tv-trailblazer-reveals-top-19175060) [cited](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXh4_BUZwHI) this as the favorite of her interviews.) [move](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQHQ7nfwK4I) to [ABC](https://abcnews.go.com/US/video/barbara-walters-debuts-abc-news-1976-69034551) as the first female co-anchor of a nightly network newscast wasn’t universally applauded. Her “ABC Evening News” co-host, [Harry Reasoner](https://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/07/obituaries/harry-reasoner-68-newscaster-known-for-his-wry-wit-is-dead.html), [didn’t think so](https://www.nytimes.com/1977/02/13/archives/the-showdown-at-abc-news-behind-the-personality-conflict-between.html) and [rarely](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU5Fb0E0ZAk) [hid](https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/video/barbara-walters-risks-failures-23760251) his contempt on-camera. She flourished away from the studio as a [roving reporter and interviewer](https://www.nytimes.com/1978/04/20/archives/abc-news-shifting-center-to-capital-she-stays-in-new-york-deskborne.html). [Aline Saarinen](https://www.nytimes.com/1972/07/15/archives/aline-saarinen-art-critic-dies-at-58.html). [Henry Kissinger](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVNaQrJv4sU), [Prince Philip](https://twitter.com/todayshow/status/860210439136960515?lang=en), [Phyllis Schlafly](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjrP0NFHKAE)) and showbiz celebrities ( [Judy Garland](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHJujYMvY30), Barbra Streisand, [Bette Midler](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9jwFEu9mNQ)). [co-host](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeWjVLwV3Zk) until 1974, when she became the first woman to earn that title.

Walters became the first woman to anchor a U.S. evening news program, in 1976. She later co-hosted “20/20” on ABC, and in 1997 launched “The View.

"She was a one-of-a-kind reporter who landed many of the most important interviews of our time, from heads of state and leaders of regimes to the biggest celebrities and sports icons." [Walt Disney](/quotes/DIS/), [issued a statement calling Walters "a dear friend." Walters became the first woman to anchor a U.S.

Journalist who made US television history as the first female co-anchor of a network evening news show.

She was creator of The View, which began in 1997, a popular chat-show covering politics and other issues. “From that time on I was more or less accepted as a member of the old boys’ club,” she wrote in her autobiography, Audition, published in 2009. The third, to a television executive, Merv Adelson, in 1981, ended in divorce in 1984. Later that year, she did the first joint interview with the leaders of Egypt and Israel, Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin, a hugely symbolic moment in the Middle East. The casual sexism of the time was reflected in the headline: “Nylons in the Newsroom”. She got her start in television as a publicity assistant at an NBC affiliate in New York city, and made her first appearance on screen when she was producing a children’s programme, Ask the Camera. But viewers liked her and television executives, in turn, liked the ratings. Back in the US she became a writer in 1961 for NBC Today and three years later became a regular on screen as a reporter. Through a combination of talent and drive, Walters went on to make television history in 1974 as the first female co-host of NBC’s Today morning news show. It was one of the most watched news interviews in US television history. With that background, she chose theatre as her major at the Sarah Lawrence college in New York state. Her success opened the way for the generations of female television journalists who followed.

NEW YORK (Dec 31): Pioneering television journalist Barbara Walters, who upended a male-dominated industry as the first woman to anchor an evening news show ...

She will be deeply missed.” — AFP “She outworked, out-thought, and out-hustled her competitors. Two years later, she would join ABC.

Barbara Walters, queen of TV journalists whose ability to interview subjects lead to not only some of the most important stories of our time but also some ...

"She lived her life with no regrets. I'm his confidant. His silly rabbit."

The first woman to co-anchor the evening news, she endured the scorn of her male counterparts.

[passed documents](https://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/17/world/barbara-walters-gave-reagan-papers-on-iran.html) from Manucher Ghorbanifar, an Iranian arms merchant she had interviewed for “20/20,” to the White House — a move [met with outrage](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-03-18-ca-7703-story.html) by much of the journalism community. Walters [interviewed](https://www.playbill.com/article/webber-names-his-favorite-on-20-20-com-69067) the composer Andrew Lloyd Webber for “20/20,” but did not reveal that she had invested $100,000 in the production of his musical “Sunset Boulevard” on Broadway. [ABC News admonished her](https://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/20/nyregion/abc-admits-walters-had-sunset-stake.html) about the oversight. [once said](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTdot_qjcts), describing how she had to rely on her knowledge of the New York Yankees to convince the stagehands to talk to her. [in a program](https://www.emmys.com/news/hall-fame/barbara-walters-hall-fame-tribute) for her 1989 induction into the Television Academy Hall of Fame. Or, she might dig for gossip, wanting to know about Barbra Streisand’s face (“Why didn’t you have your nose fixed?”) and Ricky Martin’s sexuality (“You could say, as many artists have, yes I am gay, or you could say, no I’m not.”). She went on a few dates and remained longtime friends with the Fox News chief executive Roger Ailes. Her counterpart, Harry Reasoner, “was really awful to me on and off the air,” she told Vogue, though he later said he never disliked her personally. Her first autobiography, published in 1970, was called “How to Talk with Practically Anybody about Practically Anything.” She wrote in her 2008 memoir, “Audition,” that it was her legs, not her skills, that persuaded the head of a small Manhattan advertising agency to give her a job soon after she graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1951. At the same time, she was working, unofficially, as the “Today” show's first female co-host. In 1961, she joined NBC’s “Today” show as a writer, researcher and occasional correspondent.

Barbara Walters, known for her groundbreaking interviews and a driving ambition that led her to become the first woman to anchor a network prime-time news ...

In the 2014 television special that commemorated her retirement from TV journalism, Walters showed off an autographed photo from Cuban despot Fidel Castro that hung on her wall: “For the longest and most difficult interview I’ve ever done in my life.” Her exclusive interview with Monica Lewinsky in 1999 earned the highest ratings in history for a prime-time interview. With ratings of her ABC news program a disappointment, Walters’ career was saved by the prime-time interview specials she started for ABC. ](https://twitter.com/mariashriver/status/1609026946696114177)"You paved the way for all of us. Walters was lured to ABC to become the first female co-anchor of a prime-time news broadcast with an unprecedented $1 million annual salary. It didn’t take long, however, for viewers to sense the tension between Walters and co-anchor Harry Reasoner, who couldn’t be bothered to hide his disdain for this former “TODAY Girl” being billed as his equal. When she broke into the business in 1961 as a writer on NBC’s “TODAY” show, the idea of a woman sitting down and interviewing a sitting president on prime-time network television (which she did just over a decade later) seemed more fantasy than reality in an industry dominated by men like Edward R. “She was smart and prepared, but at the same time she came across as more compassionate (than her male peers). “I learned that celebrities were human beings,” Walters said in 2014. ABC, the network where she last worked, aired a special report Friday night announcing Walters' death and reflecting on her career. She earned that reputation with a penchant for meticulous preparation, whether she was interviewing despots or divas, models or murderers. "She was a trailblazer not only for female journalists, but for all women.”

A look back at the pioneering journalist's rise to the top echelon of television and media, as documented in the pages of Variety.

The blurb notes that the woman “who usually does the interviewing,” would be featured the following week on the popular syndicated daytime series “The Mike Douglas Show.” She was set to be interviewed and sing on the show — just one of many passions Walters pursued throughout her extraordinary life. As noted in the June 27, 1962, edition of weekly, she traveled with first lady Jacqueline Kennedy for a feature for Ladies Home Journal – all while working still long hours for “Today.” As someone who kept her finger on the pulse, Variety noted in the Dec. 9, 1964, edition that Walters of course showed off her football chops in her probing interview with the wife of then-embattled New York Giants quarterback Y.A. But early on she did work in the realm of PR and advertising before she planted roots on the editorial side at NBC News’ “Today.” She merited a mention high in the “From the Production Centres” column (I have no idea why we used that spelling for Centers) that ran on page 56 of the July 30, 1952, weekly edition. It’s a mention that she is joining the “flackery” (aka PR) department of WNBC-TV and WNBT radio. She shifted into programming for WNBC-TV by early 1953 as was noted in the Jan. And it offers a unique and insightful prism on the evolution of television news, as an information medium and as a cultural force. Variety noted when she went out on her now-famous assignment for “Today” of becoming a trainee Playboy Bunny – a mention that no doubt helped cement that part of her legend in industry circles. 30 at age 93](https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/barbara-walters-dead-journalist-celebrity-interviewer-abc-news-1235476703/), as documented in the pages of [Variety](https://variety.com/t/variety/) shows the clear trajectory of a well-connected, industrious young woman who was destined to reach the summit of New York media and literati circles. Barbara Walters stood out for the quality of her work even before she was on camera.

Legendary journalist Barbara Walters has died at age 93. Top industry leaders and influential colleagues are celebrating her contributions to the ...

Among major news outlets in the survey, The Washington Post came closest to gender equity with women representing 52% of staff members and 50% of leaders. The representation of women declined in nearly one-fifth of news organizations surveyed. Walters was also honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007. Walters was a panel member on the show through her retirement in 2014. In hundreds of statements and media interviews, top industry leaders and influential colleagues swiftly reacted to the news of her passing with fond reflections on how she impacted them, their industry, and the world through expert reporting and interviewing. In 1976, she transitioned to ABC, where she became the first woman to anchor an evening news program.

Because of Barbara Walters, women have much more power, money and influence – and a stronger voice, more career opportunities and more options in their ...

It was not just because she was on camera, but also because it was a form of self-expression, and reflected her confidence. She even created and launched a show just to do that: “The View.” Walters intentionally designed “The View” in 1997 as a panel of only women across the generations and the political spectrum. She did this when she became a mother, and altered her schedule to be there for her daughter, too. But what Walters really did was recognize that we are whole people with a range of quirks, choices, and dimensions, and that those quirks make us human to an audience – and make great television. Give a voice to the various dimensions of who you are – and who others are: Audiences embraced the personal questions Walters often asked her interviewees, even awkward ones – like asking Monica Lewinsky about showing her thong to the President of the United States, Bill Clinton. The stories of their clashes on air and off are news business legend, but what it showed was that she seized the opportunity and made it work for her, somehow. Really listen: She was known for her questions, but if you watch how Walters conducted her interviews, she is very present with her interviewees and listens closely to what they say and responds to it. Instead, she boldly, tenaciously and courageously embraced and pursued her intellect, her ambition and her formidable skills and sought to be among the top in her field. That strategic smile and light laugh came in handy when, for example, Reasoner insulted her in their first appearance together as co-anchors on the evening news in 1976 (he clearly did not want her there). It helped her a lot when she confronted Donald Trump in August, 1990 on his claims of success, for example. Every journalist interviews people, but Walters made it an art and pulled her audience in to their conversation in a way like no one else. Embrace who you are: Barbara Walters could have easily dumbed it down to get along better with the culture of the white-male dominated era of her early career, but she chose not to and stood firm.