Barbara Jill Walters (September 25, 1929 – December 30, 2022) was an American broadcast journalist and television personality.[1][2] Known for her interviewing ability and popularity with viewers, she appeared as a host of numerous television programs, including Today, the ABC Evening News, 20/20, and The View. Walters was a working journalist from 1951 until her retirement in 2015.[3][4][5] Walters was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1989, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the NATAS in 2000 and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007.
Walters began her career at WNBT-TV (NBC's flagship station in New York) in 1953 as writer-producer of a news-and-information program aimed at the juvenile audience, Ask the Camera, hosted by Sandy Becker. She joined the staff of the network's Today show in the early 1960s as a writer and segment producer of women's-interest stories. Her popularity with viewers led to her receiving more airtime, and in 1974 she became co-host of the program, the first woman to hold such a position on an American news program.[6][7][8] During 1976 she continued to be a pioneer for women in broadcasting while becoming the first U.S. female co-anchor of a network evening news program, alongside Harry Reasoner on the ABC Evening News. Walters was a correspondent, producer and co-host on the ABC newsmagazine 20/20 from 1979 to 2004. She became known for an annual special aired on ABC, Barbara Walters' 10 Most Fascinating People.
During her career, Walters interviewed every sitting U.S. president and first lady from Richard and Pat Nixon to Barack and Michelle Obama.[9][10] She also interviewed both Donald Trump and Joe Biden, though not when each was president. She also gained acclaim and notoriety for interviewing subjects such as Fidel Castro, Anwar Sadat, Menachem Begin, Katharine Hepburn, Sean Connery, Monica Lewinsky, Hugo Chávez, Vladimir Putin,[11] Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Jiang Zemin, and Bashar al-Assad.[12]
Walters created, produced, and co-hosted the ABC daytime talk show The View; she appeared on the program from 1997 until she retired in 2014.[13] Later she continued to host several special reports for 20/20 as well as documentary series for Investigation Discovery. Her final on-air appearance for ABC News was in 2015.[14][15][16][17][18] Walters last publicly appeared in 2016.
^"Miss Walters engaged". The New York Times. May 1, 1955. p. 96.
^"Barbara Walters: Biography". TV Guide. Retrieved February 3, 2014.
^"Barbara Walters Announces 2014 Retirement". ABC News. May 12, 2013. Retrieved April 17, 2016.
^"Barbara Walters returns from retirement for Peter Rodger interview". Los Angeles Times. June 10, 2014. Retrieved April 17, 2016.
^"Donald Trump Responds to Critics: Somebody 'Has to Say What's Right'". ABC News. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
^Walters, Barbara (2008). Audition: a memoir. NY: Knopf. p. 205. ISBN 978-0-307-26646-0.
^Walters, Barbara (2008). Audition: a memoir. NY: Knopf. ISBN 978-0-307-26646-0.
^Meaney, Donald (April 22, 1974). "NBC-TV Press Release".
^Cite error: The named reference stanley_12302022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"The One Thing Barbara Walters Says Every President Has in Common". HuffPost. September 4, 2015. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
^"Barbara Walters' 10 Biggest Interviews". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
^Wittmeyer, Alicia P. Q. (May 13, 2013). "Barbara Walters's greatest interviews with world leaders". Foreign Policy. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
^"Walters to Announce 2014 Retirement on 'The View'". The New York Times. May 13, 2013. Retrieved May 13, 2013.
^Ariens, Chris (April 11, 2015). "Barbara Walters Return to 20/20 Wins the Hour for ABC | TVNewser". Adweek. Retrieved April 17, 2016.
^"Barbara Walters returns from retirement for Peter Rodger interview". Los Angeles Times. June 10, 2014. Retrieved April 17, 2016.
^"Barbara Walters Interviews Presidential Candidate Donald Trump And His Family". ABC News. November 17, 2015. Retrieved April 17, 2016.
^"Barbara Walters Presents American Scandals : Programs : Investigation Discovery: Discovery Press Web". press.discovery.com. Archived from the original on August 25, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
^"Barbara Walters Reveals Her Annual 'Most Fascinating People' List". ABC News. December 2, 2015. Retrieved April 17, 2016.
Barbara Jill Walters (September 25, 1929 – December 30, 2022) was an American broadcast journalist and television personality. Known for her interviewing...
Quarter nightclub in New York. He was the father of journalist BarbaraWalters. Lou Walters was born in Whitechapel, Tower Hamlets, London, on January 26...
Spotify for 2022 behind Rogan. Rolling Stone labeled her "Gen-Z’s BarbaraWalters" for frequently enlisting high-profile Hollywood talent and influential...
with Simon & Schuster in 2021 to write a biography of broadcaster BarbaraWalters. Page was selected as the moderator of the 2020 vice presidential debate...
With her co-hosts Joy Behar, Whoopi Goldberg, Sherri Shepherd, and BarbaraWalters, she was awarded the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host...
co-anchor, former Today Show co-host BarbaraWalters; ABC had gone to great lengths to hire her away from NBC. Walters and Reasoner did not enjoy a close...
film star Billie Dove. His third wife was the television journalist BarbaraWalters to whom he was married from 1981 until 1984. They remarried in 1986...
of the BarbaraWalters Specials and The 10 Most Fascinating People. Geddie was the owner of May Avenue Productions. He was a partner with Walters in BarWall...
caused a rift between her and Walters that lasted nearly six years. In May 2008, in response to allegations in BarbaraWalters's autobiography, Audition, Jones...
The BarbaraWalters Campus Center is the newest building on campus. Finished in the fall of 2019, the building is named for alumna BarbaraWalters. The...
Jennings received national attention in 2007 when an interview with BarbaraWalters aired on 20/20, which led to other high-profile interviews and appearances...
children together, Zev and Carol. In December 1963 Guber was married to BarbaraWalters, then a reporter for NBC, beginning a marriage that lasted 13 years...
Just the idea, this would count as a crime." The television series BarbaraWalters Presents American Scandals covered the case in December 2015 with an...
kennels. In 2004, she garnered the support of television journalist BarbaraWalters, socialite Ivana Trump, attorney Barry Slotnick, writer Tama Janowitz...
nerves. BarbaraWalters and Shepherd talked after that episode: Walters said, "Dear, the Earth is round", and Shepherd responded with: "Barbara, I know...
After Saarinen left the show, NBC asked BarbaraWalters if she was interested in taking over hosting duties. Walters accepted on the condition that the program's...
Rose Ann Scamardella), and "Baba Wawa", a parody of BarbaraWalters. After Radner's death, Walters noted in an interview that Radner had been the "first...
a Baltimore TV station. Walters, Barbara (December 10, 2010). "Oprah on Oprah: Talk show host sits down with BarbaraWalters for a soul-searching interview"...
career with NBC. Barely ten months later, Pauley was chosen to replace BarbaraWalters on the Today show. Pauley co-hosted the Today show from 1976 to December...
24th Other appearances have included: Interviews with David Frost, BarbaraWalters, Phil Donahue, and Larry King; various profiles of Michael Jackson;...