Earlier this evening, ABC announced that Barbara Walters, groundbreaking news journalist, broadcaster, and host, passed away in her New York City home on December 30th, 2022. She was 93 years old. Her career was as impressive as it was groundbreaking, having spanned five decades.
Walters began her career with writing. She’d written for Redbook Magazine in the 1950s, years before her first television appearance. She began on The Today Show in the 1970s as a “Today Girl,” before becoming a reporter for the channel. She was the first woman to co-host a morning news show in America, according to E! News .
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Walters Then Joined ABC In 1976.
Once again breaking ground, Walters became the first female anchor on an evening news show. By 1979, she was co-hosting 20/20 . Decades later, in 1997, she launched and hosted The View .
Walters’s career continued until 2014, when she decided to step down as a co-host for The View , though she remained an executive producer for the show.
Walters Was Born In Boston On September 25th, 1929.
Her father, Lou Walters, worked as a booking agent and club producer, which meant that Barbara grew up around celebrities. She cites this as being an influence on how she managed to see the humans behind the celebrities, rather than just their star status.
She attended Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York in the 1950s. It would be many years before she made her way onto television, and thus made history with her multitude of achievements.
Throughout Her Career, Walters Interviewed A Number Of World Leaders And Notable Figures.
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Walters interviewed every sitting president and first lady from Richard Nixon all the way to Barack Obama. She interviewed Cuban leader Fidel Castro on two different occasions, as well as Russia’s Vladimir Putin. She had also conducted interviews with the likes of Anna Wintour and Michael Jackson, among countless other notable figures over the decades.
Barbara Walters’s Presence On Television Was A Huge Step For Women In Journalism.
Not only did Walters pave the way for women in news media, but she did so while being honored for her many achievements. Over the span of her career, Walters won 12 Emmys for her news coverage. She was also inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1989. In 2000, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. And in 2007, Walters was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
