Barbara Walters was a pioneering journalist who interviewed some of the most powerful, influential, and controversial figures in the world, including Fidel Castro, Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi, and Bashar al-Assad.
Legendary News broadcaster Barbara Walters has died, ABC news reported in a special broadcast. She was 93.
Walters joined ABC in 1972 and quickly became a household name in the United States. She was the first female anchor on an evening news program and in 1979 became a co-host of the award-winning “20/20” news show. In 1997, she launched “The View.” Both shows remain staples on American television screens today.
Walters stepped down as a co-host of the View in 2014, but remained as an executive producer and continued to occasionally conduct interviews for ABC News late into her life. Her career spanned five decades, during which she won 12 Emmy awards.
Known for her interviews, Walters got her start as a correspondent before working her way up to news anchor.
“We were all influenced by Barbara Walters,” ABC News’ David Muir said in a tribute that aired Friday. Muir called her an “extraordinary human being, journalist, pioneer, legend.”
Posting on Twitter, Disney CEO and former President of ABC Television, Bob Igor posted on Twitter about Walters’ life and death.
“Barbara was a true legend, a pioneer not just for women in journalism but for journalism itself. 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. 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. She will be missed by all of us at The Walt Disney Company, and we send our deepest condolences to her daughter, Jacqueline.”
Walters was born on September 25, 1929, in Boston, Massachusetts to Dena and Louis Walters. Her dad was a nightclub owner and Walters joined the news business after her family went broke. She went on to interview some of the richest and most powerful people in the world.
Walters’ longtime representative and friend Cindi Berger responded to the news by calling Walters “a trailblazer not only for female journalists but for all women,” noting that she died peacefully and while surrounded by loved ones in her home.
Before working at ABC, Walters graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in the 1950s and got work as a writer for NBC’s Today show in 1961. Later, she would become the show’s first female host and won her first Emmy for her work there in 1975. The next year she would join ABC’s Evening News as the first female co-anchor of an evening news program.
During a 2014 ceremony that renamed part of the ABC News headquarters “The Barbara Walters Building,” Walters explained what she thought of her legacy.
“[I]t’s not the interviews with presidents, or heads of state, nor celebrities. If I have a legacy, and I’ve said this before and I mean it so sincerely, I hope that I played a small role in paving the way for so many of you fabulous women.”
BREAKING: Legendary newswoman Barbara Walters has died. She was 93 years-old. pic.twitter.com/lkkTkOA7iL
— Adam Winkler (@AdamWinkABC13) December 31, 2022
She is survived by her daughter Jacqueline Dena Guber. She was married four times to three different men, trying twice with TV executive Merv Adelson.
Couldn’t stand this woman’s methodology of presentation, and the condescending manner she had with those targeted for harassment by the MSM.
She towed the line with ‘appropriate’ questions so as not to embarrass the criminal class in D.C..
She was lampooned in SNL’s presentation of the ‘news’ as ‘Barbara Wah-Wah’..
Another female reporter who is haphazardly biased is K1m&erly H@lkett of Al-Jazeera. Absolutely grating and definitely a Trump hater, with her confluences approving of her comments of directed, talented rancor!
(((Barbara Walters))) “The View.” “The ***”
She towed the line with ‘appropriate’ questions so as not to embarrass the criminal class in D.C..
She is part of the Tribe that is the criminal class in DC.
Good, I hope it’s nice and toasty in the bowels of Hell tonight. Evil hag.
She berated Corey Feldman on her show for daring to speak about how he’d been molested by Hollywood peadophiles as a child. Never challenged him on any of it, never called him a liar, she just said something along the lines of “a lot of people work in this industry, you shouldn’t be saying these things because it could threaten their jobs…”
She really was a vile cockroach. Adios b***h 🎤🖐