Barbara Walters, the trailblazing TV broadcaster who paved the way for women in a male-dominated medium, died on Friday. She was 93.
Her death was confirmed by her representative, Cindi Berger, who stated that Walters died “peacefully in her home surrounded by loved ones.”
“She lived her life with no regrets,” Berger said. “She was a trailblazer not only for female journalists, but for all women.”
ABC, where she most recently worked, aired a special report Friday night announcing Walters’ death and reflecting on her career. In a statement, Bob Iger, CEO of the Walt Disney Company, which owns ABC, said Walters died Friday evening at her New York City home.
He referred to her as “a pioneer not only for women in journalism, but for journalism itself.”
President Biden also paid tribute to Walters in a tweet on Saturday, calling her “an example of bravery and truth — breaking barriers while driving our nation forward.”
“Her legacy will live on as an inspiration to all journalists,” Biden added. “Jill and I extend our heartfelt condolences to her daughter, Jacqueline, and all who loved her.”
Walters was best known in recent years as the co-creator and matriarch of the hit ABC daytime show “The View,” but older viewers remember her as the first female anchor of a network news programme and television’s preeminent interviewer. She earned that reputation through her meticulous preparation, whether she was interviewing despots or divas, models or murderers.
“I do so much homework, I know more about the person than he or she knows about themselves,” Walters said in a 2014 television special.
That determination was crucial to her success. When she started out as a writer on NBC’s “TODAY” show in 1961, the idea of a woman sitting down and interviewing a sitting president on prime-time network television (which she did just over a decade later) seemed more fantasy than reality in an industry dominated by men like Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite.
“She was playing in a field that was such an old boy’s network, literally and metaphorically, and she didn’t take no for an answer,” Robert Thompson, director of Syracuse University’s Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture, told NBC News before Walters’ death.
“At some point, the things that had been a liability for her, being a woman trying to get a foothold in a male-dominated industry, began to become more of an asset,” Thompson said. “She was astute and well-prepared as she was compassionate” (than her male peers).
“Barbara Walters proved to be the evolutionary step between Edward R. Murrow and Oprah Winfrey.”
In some ways, Walters had been preparing for those signature interviews her entire life. Barbara Jill Walters was born on September 25, 1929, in Boston, to nightlife impresario Lou Walters, who owned clubs all over the East Coast.
“I discovered that celebrities were human beings,” Walters said in 2014. “I never thought of a celebrity as someone so perfect and wonderful that I should be put off.”
Walters, who inherited her father’s drive, graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a bachelor’s degree in English and began her career as an intern at NBC affiliate WRCA-TV. She married businessman Robert Henry Katz in 1955, but her first love remained her fledgling career. The couple divorced three years later.
Hired as a writer and researcher on “TODAY,” Walters rose to become the show’s only female producer and began filling in on air as the “TODAY Girl,” a reporting role reserved for fashion shows, lifestyle trends, and the weather that had previously been held, among others, by Florence Henderson of “Brady Bunch” fame.
Certainly not the kind of hard reporting to which Walters clearly aspired.
Off-screen, Walters married theatre producer Lee Guber in 1963, with whom she adopted a daughter, Jacqueline, named after Walters’ older sister, who was developmentally disabled. The marriage would last 13 years.
Her big break came when she was assigned to accompany Jacqueline Kennedy on the first lady’s trip to India in 1962. This resulted in more newsy pieces and a promotion to co-hosting duties alongside Hugh Downs — though she didn’t get the official title until 1974. By then, Downs had left the network and been replaced by Frank McGee.
Hired as a writer and researcher on “TODAY,” Walters rose to become the show’s only female producer and began filling in on air as the “TODAY Girl,” a reporting role reserved for fashion shows, lifestyle trends, and the weather that had previously been held, among others, by Florence Henderson of “Brady Bunch” fame.
Certainly not the kind of hard reporting to which Walters clearly aspired.
Off-screen, Walters married theatre producer Lee Guber in 1963, with whom she adopted a daughter, Jacqueline, named after Walters’ older sister, who was developmentally disabled. The marriage would last 13 years.
Her big break came when she was assigned to accompany Jacqueline Kennedy on the first lady’s trip to India in 1962. This resulted in more newsy pieces and a promotion to co-hosting duties alongside Hugh Downs — though she didn’t get the official title until 1974. By then, Downs had left the network and been replaced by Frank McGee.
Though Walters was chastised for asking Katharine Hepburn, “What kind of tree are you?” — in fairness, it was a follow-up to something the legendary actress had said — she was capable of asking the most difficult questions, such as looking Russian President Vladimir Putin in the eye and asking him if he had ever ordered the death of a rival.
Her exclusive interview with Monica Lewinsky in 1999 received the highest ratings ever for a prime-time interview. In 1997, Walters debuted “The View,” a midmorning talk show with an all-women panel that was more similar to her “TODAY” roots. While she was a co-executive producer with a seat at the table, she chose Meredith Vieira as the first moderator.
The hit show’s panellists have included Whoopi Goldberg, Star Jones, Lisa Ling, Joy Behar, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Rosie O’Donnell, and Meghan McCain over the years.
Former co-host Megan McCain said Friday that Walters’ “hard hitting questions” for subjects made her a leader in American news media.
“She will always be known as a trailblazer,” McCain said in a tweet.
Maria Shriver, an anchor at NBC News, said Walters’ support and presence opened doors.
“Thank you, Barbara, for everything,” she tweeted. “You paved the way for all of us. You truly did.”
Oprah Winfrey, who began her career in radio and television in Nashville, Tennessee, said Walters was in her head when she landed her first TV news audition.
“Without Barbara Walters, there would have been no me — or any other woman you see on evening, morning, and daily news,” she said in an Instagram statement. “I am grateful to have followed in her Light.”
Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar praised Walters’ refusal to back down in her interviews.
“Barbara Walters never flinched when questioning the world’s most powerful people,” he tweeted. “She held them accountable. She cared about the truth, and she made us care as well.”
While Walters largely avoided controversy throughout her long career, the revelation that she had an affair with Sen. Edward Brooke, R-Mass., in the 1970s caused quite a stir.
Walters announced her retirement in 2014, after nearly 60 years in journalism.
“I don’t want to appear on another show or climb another mountain,” she explained. “I’d rather sit on a sunny field and admire the very talented women — and some men, too — who will take my place.”
