Barbara Walters

Barbara Walters, one of the most visible women on US television as the first female anchor on an American network evening news broadcast and one of TV's ...

In 1997, Ms Walters launched "The View" on ABC, a popular roundtable discussion show for women that was sometimes driven by disputes with her co-hosts Star Jones and Rosie O'Donnell. Being interviewed by Ms Walters on "20/20" or on her numerous specials became a distinction - and guaranteed exposure- for her subjects. Ms Walters became so prominent that her star quality sometimes overshadowed the people she was questioning. "These two men were really quite brutal to me and it was not pleasant," Ms Walters told the San Francisco Examiner. Ms Walters said the spoof bothered her, until her daughter told her to lighten up. Celebrity interviews also were an important part of Ms Walters 'repertoire, and for 29 years she hosted a pre-Oscars interview program featuring Academy Award nominees.

The American TV legend was famous for her hard hitting interview style and was known for interviewing the biggest names in entertainment over the course of ...

Her second husband was to a theatre producer named Lee Guber - tying-the-knot in 1963, and they divorced in 1976 - but the couple adopted a daughter named Jacqueline Dena Guber in1968. She then stepped out of the public eye and last gave a public appearance in 2016 and has been out of the spotlight since. She was respected and known for her hard hitting interviews where she would often ask direct, abrupt questions - and was revered for her technique which encouraged those in her hot seat to answer the hard questions. Barbara then moved network to work with ABC where she hosted a job on their Evening News show - and became the first woman to anchor a network news show. “She was a one of a kind reporter who landed many of the most important interviews of our time; from heads of state to the biggest celebrities and sports icons. ABC news announced that she had passed away on Friday - she was 93 at the time of her death - with a flood of tributes pouring out for the icon soon after her passing was revealed.

In a broadcast career spanning five decades, Walters interviewed an array of world leaders, including Cuba's Fidel Castro, Margaret Thatcher, Libyan ruler ...

Castro, Britain's Margaret Thatcher, Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein of Iraq and every US president and first lady since Richard and Pat Nixon. In a broadcast career spanning five decades, Walters interviewed an array of world leaders, including Cuba's Fidel Castro, Margaret Thatcher, Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein and every US president and first lady since Richard and Pat Nixon. Ms Walters was the first female co-host of Today, the hugely successful US daily news and magazine show, the first evening news anchorwoman in broadcast history and a co-creator and co-host of topical chat show The View.

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.

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.

Barbara Walters, the pioneering TV journalist whose interviewing skills made her one of the most prominent figures in broadcasting, has died, ...

If it’s a woman it’s too pushy, if it’s a man it’s aggressive in the best sense of the word,” she once observed. Two years later she became, for a time, the best-known person in television when she left “Today” to join ABC as the first woman to co-anchor a network evening newscast, signing for a then-startling $1 million a year. Her shows, some of which she produced, were some of the highest-rated of their type and spawned a number of imitators. Walters began her national broadcast career in 1961 as a reporter, writer and panel member for NBC’s “Today” show before being promoted to co-hdst in 1974. Walters, though, was no slacker in terms of landing major interviews, including presidents, world leaders and almost every imaginable celebrity, with a well-earned reputation for bringing her subjects to tears. She was a trailblazer not only for female journalists but for all women,” Walters’ spokesperson Cindi Berger told CNN in a statement.

Bob Iger, CEO of the Walt Disney Company, parent of ABC, said in a statement Walters died Friday evening at her New York City residence.

In 1997, Walters debuted a new show that was closer to her "TODAY" roots: a midmorning talk show with an all-women panel called "The View." "I want instead to sit on a sunny field and admire the very gifted women — and OK, some men, too — who will be taking my place." 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. But it was her interviews that remained Walters' passion, compiling her mix of tough and amusing questions on her trademark 3x5 index cards and fussing with the order even after the cameras started rolling. Walters later admitted she didn't find the "Baba Wawa" skits funny. 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). 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.

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 death was announced by her network ABC on air Friday night. “Barbara Walters passed away peacefully in her home surrounded by loved ones. She lived her life ...

“I have to remember this on the bad days,” Ms Walters said quietly, “because this is the best.” “I never expected this!” Ms Walters said in 2004, taking measure of her success. She lived her life with no regrets.

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.

The first woman to front a US evening news programme, she interviewed everyone from presidents to pop stars.

News anchor Don Lemon tweeted: "She was obviously amazing on television but I selfishly loved spending time with her in person. She left the world the better for it. The world of journalism has lost a pillar of professionalism, courage, and integrity. She outworked, out-thought, and out-hustled her competitors. "She lived her life with no regrets. Barbara Walters was a trailblazer and a true pro.

Barbara Walters' legacy has touched the lives of many celebrities and friends alike, including Hugh Jackman, Oprah Winfrey and Jennifer Hudson.

“Thank You for allowing me to find my voice and encouraging me to fly. Singer and actor Jennifer Hudson, 41, also shared her recollections of interviews with the star and wrote: “A true trailblazer and icon! She lived a full life and leaves behind such a powerful legacy. Grateful to have followed in her Light,” she concluded. Grateful to have known her. Barbara then moved network to work with ABC where she hosted a job on their Evening News show - and became the first woman to anchor a network news show.

The death was announced by her network ABC on air Friday night. “Barbara Walters passed away peacefully in her home surrounded by loved ones. She lived her life ...

“I have to remember this on the bad days,” Ms Walters said quietly, “because this is the best.” “I never expected this!” Ms Walters said in 2004, taking measure of her success. She lived her life with no regrets.

Print reporters, broadcasters, celebrities and others paid tribute to the legendary news anchor.

“As the first female national news anchor, she opened the door to endless possibilities for so many girls who wanted to work in TV, myself included,” Ms. [said on Twitter ](https://twitter.com/MeghanMcCain/status/1609018990742962176)that Ms. “She cared about the truth and she made us care too. Walters as an “American institution.” “She held them accountable,” he wrote on Twitter. Walters called to offer her a job on “20/20.” She said it was an honor to share the set. Walters’s “hard hitting questions & welcoming demeanor made her a household name and leader in American journalism.” [Star Jones](https://twitter.com/StarJonesEsq/status/1609022812009955328?s=20&t=xB9wMlztYRYx1SKWtcf6dQ), one of the original co-hosts of “The View,” wrote: “I owe Barbara Walters more than I could ever repay. Walters as a mentor and a friend. Fortunately, she inspired many other journalists to be just as unrelenting.” Maria Shriver, a former NBC News anchor and California first lady, described Ms. Journalists across the country recalled on Friday night the effect that Ms. “So many women broke into the news business because she did her job well,” Ms.

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.

First female anchor on a US network evening news broadcast became one of TV's most prominent interviewers.

In 1997, Walters launched The View on ABC, a popular roundtable discussion show for women that was sometimes riven by disputes with her co-hosts Star Jones and Rosie O’Donnell. After her unhappy run on the ABC Evening News ended in 1978, Walters established herself on the network’s prime-time news magazine show 20/20 and stayed with the program for 25 years. Ms Walters was born in Boston, and after graduating from Sarah Lawrence College, she worked in public relations before joining NBC’s Today show as a writer and segment producer in 1961. Her unwilling partner, Harry Reasoner, made his disdain for Ms Walters obvious even when they were on the air. Ms Walters said the spoof bothered her, until her daughter told her to lighten up. “I never thought I’d have this kind of a life,” Ms Walters said in a 2004 Chicago Tribune interview.

Reaction poured in from the worlds of journalism, politics, sports and entertainment following the death of TV news pioneer and “The View” creator Barbara ...

“So often we toss around the words icon, legend, trailblazer - but Barbara Walters was all of these. “Barbara Walters will always be known as a trail blazer. A true trailblazer, she was the 1st woman anchor on the evening news. [Katie Couric](https://www.instagram.com/p/Cm0WJF1r84t/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link), journalist, former “Today” co-host and network news anchor. we met in the spring of 1998, in the midst of the starr investigation; i was 24. She cared about the truth and she made us care too. “The world of journalism has lost a pillar of professionalism, courage, and integrity. She left the world the better for it. She will be missed by all of us at The Walt Disney Company, and we send our deepest condolences to her daughter, Jacqueline.” — “Barbara was a true legend, a pioneer not just for women in journalism but for journalism itself. An intrepid interviewer, anchor and program host, she led the way as the first woman to become a TV news superstar. She was just as comfortable interviewing world leaders as she was Oscar winners and she had to fight like hell for every interview.

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.

Walters, a pioneer as TV news' first woman superstar, has died. She was 93.

A perennial favorite was her review of the year’s “10 Most Fascinating People.” But she faced a setback in 1971 with the arrival of a new host, Frank McGee, who insisted she wait for him to ask three questions before she could open her mouth during interviews with “powerful persons.” As she appeared more frequently, she was spared the title of “‘Today’ Girl” that had been attached to her predecessors. By 1976, she had been granted the title of “Today” co-host and was earning $700,000 a year. “I hope that I will be remembered as a good and courageous journalist. Walters’ self-disclosure reached another benchmark in May 2010 when she made an announcement on “The View” that, days later, she would undergo heart surgery. But salvation arrived in the form of a new boss: ABC News president Roone Arledge moved her out of the co-anchor slot and into special projects. Her 1963 marriage to theater owner Lee Guber, with whom she adopted a daughter, ended in divorce after 13 years. In May 2014, she taped her final episode of “The View” amid much ceremony to end a five-decade career in television (although she continued to make occasional TV appearances ). Late in her career, she gave infotainment a new twist with “The View,” a live ABC weekday kaffee klatsch with an all-female panel for whom any topic was on the table and who welcomed guests ranging from world leaders to teen idols. Walters graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1943 and eventually landed a “temporary,” behind-the-scenes assignment at “Today” in 1961. “She lived her life with no regrets.

Tributes also came in from talk show host Oprah Winfrey, singer Jennifer Hudson and actress Lynda Carter.

“Her curiosity and kindness came through in every interview. She was a trail blazer, wickedly funny, generous, open hearted and a good friend. She lived a full life and leaves behind such a powerful legacy. Every time I was interviewed by her, I felt her genuine warmth. What a legend and a trailblazer! “She lived her life with no regrets.

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.”

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.

ELISSA NADWORNY, HOST: And now we'll remember Barbara Walters, one of journalism's most influential figures, who died yesterday at 93.

And I do it for the viewers. I don't do it for the newspapers to get a headline. And then when I had my struggles, both on "The Today Show" and when I came to ABC with men who really didn't want me as a partner, I knew what it was to fail. WALTERS: If I were out of the studio, Michel - right. And he sure didn't want me, and he made it very difficult. WALTERS: You are Mama, and you work.