The groundbreaking television personality and world-renowned journalist has passed away.
It has just been reported that famous journalist and TV personality Barbara Walters is deceased. The news was announced by ABC, the network Walters had spent many years with working as an anchor and correspondent. Additional details about Walters’ death were not immediately released. She was 93 years old.
Walters spent about five decades in television, making history in 1976 as the first female anchor on an evening news program when she joined ABC News. In 1979 she served as co-host of 20/20 on ABC. She would later help launch The view in 1997, where she would serve as a co-host until 2014, though she would continue to serve as the show’s executive producer. She would formally retire in 2015 after embarking on her journalism career in 1951.
Walters’ career accolades had also earned her recognition with an induction into the Television Hall of Fame in 1989, followed by a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of TV Arts and Sciences in 2000. She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007. She has won 12 Emmy Awards and an NAACP Image Award.
In 2014, part of ABC News’ headquarters was renamed “The Barbara Walters Building.” This, of course, was done as a way of acknowledging the many contributions Walters has made over the decades, not only to the network, but to countless other women in journalism as well.
“People often ask me, ‘what is your legacy?’ and it’s not the interviews with presidents, heads of state or celebrities,” she said at the ceremony. “If I have a legacy, and I’ve said this before and I mean it so sincerely, I hope I played a small part in paving the way for so many of you amazing women.”
Barbara Walters had some legendary interviews
Walters is also known for conducting some of the most watched and high profile interviews. She has spoken to every US president and first lady from the Nixons to the Obamas, though she also interviewed Donald Trump and Melania Trump before they entered the White House. She attracted huge viewers when she interviewed Monica Lewinsky in 1999 about her affair with then-President Bill Clinton. Walters has also spoken to figures such as Fidel Castro and Vladimir Putin.
Born in 1929, Walters was married four times in her life. After marrying Robert Henry Katz and Lee Guber, she married Merv Adelson twice before retiring from weddings for good after her final divorce in 1992. With Guber, she adopted a daughter, Jacqueline Guber. At this time, our thoughts are with Guber and Walter’s family and friends. May she rest in peace while her memory lives on.