Barbara Walters, an Emmy-winning pioneer who paved the way for women reporters in broadcast TV for decades, died Friday. She was 93 years old.
ABC News tweeted Friday, “Barbara Walters, who shattered the glass ceiling and became a dominant force in an industry once dominated by men, has died.” Walters worked for ABC from 1976 until his retirement in 2014.
Walters made her debut on NBC’s “The Today Show” as a writer and segment producer. By 1974, she became the show’s co-host—and two years later was the first woman named to co-anchor a network’s evening news show, when she joined Harry Reasoner on the “ABC Evening News.”
From 1979 to 2004, Walters co-hosted and produced the ABC primetime newsmagazine “20/20”. He also launched an annual year-end primetime special on the hottest people of the year, which was a huge ratings draw and cemented his reputation for mixing interviews with serious news figures as well as pop culture stars.
An early scoop came in November 1977, when she did a joint interview with Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin.
Other notable interviewees included entertainers Judy Garland and Michael Jackson, as well as world leaders Bashar al-Assad and Fidel Castro. He also interviewed every president and first lady since Richard Nixon. (Walters interviewed trump when he was campaigning in 2015, and joe biden When he was Barack Obama’s vice president.)
When asked about interview she missed the mostWalters played Christopher Reeve, John Wayne, Robin Givens and Mike Tyson, Monica Lewinsky (which was watched by a record-breaking 74 million viewers), Audrey Hepburn, Clint Eastwood (whom she confessed she had a crush on), and Robert and the list goes on. Huh. Michel Smithdas, a married couple who were both deaf and blind.
In 1997, Walters created the ABC daytime talk show “The View”, which he produced and co-hosted until his retirement from broadcast TV in 2014. The talk show, which still airs today, is known for its fiery, sometimes hostile, conversation. Between the hosts and its ever-changing lineup.
Walters returned to “The View” in 2015 to celebrate the show’s 4000th episode and in 2016 to talk about her interview subject and friend Nancy Reagan.
Walters had one child, Jacqueline, whom she adopted with her second husband (married 1963–1976), Lee Guber. The journalist was also married to Robert Katz (1955–1957), and twice married and divorced to TV producer Merv Adelson (1981–1984, 1986–1992).
Lawrence Yee contributed to this post.
