Newsman: Barbara Walters, the most famous and pioneering American broadcast journalists passed away at the age of 93 on Friday evening , December 30th 2022 at her home in New York. Her interviewing skills made her one of the most prominent figures in broadcasting.
For more than five decades, Walters was a name to reckon with, whether speaking with world leaders on news programs, in celebrities’ homes for her regular “Barbara Walters Specials” or on “The View,” a daytime talk show in which a diverse panel of women discuss the latest headlines.
Walters began her national broadcast career in 1961 as a reporter, writer and panel member for NBC’s “Today” show. This was her Walter’s first job, where she reported what were then perceived as “women’s stories.” In 1974, she was officially named co-anchor of the show. Two years later she became, for a time, the best-known person in television when she left “Today” to join ABC as the first woman to co-anchor a network before being promoted to co-host in 1974 signing for a then-startling $1 million a year.
Walters joined ABC News as the first female anchor on an evening news program in 1976.
At that network, Walters launched “The Barbara Walters Specials” and “10 Most Fascinating People” before becoming a co-host and correspondent for ABC News’ “20/20” in 1984. Along the way, she interviewed every US president and first lady since Richard and Pat Nixon.
Walters had the only joint interview of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin amid their peace talks in 1977. She also spoke with Saddam Hussein and Moammar Gaddafi.
In 1999, she scored the first big interview with Monica Lewinsky which was watched by an average of 48.5 million viewers.
In December 2011, she asked Syria’s President Bashar al Assad about brutal reprisals against protesters.
“You have seen, I am certain, the pictures of Egypt from the President Mubarak in jail, pictures… in Libya of Moammar Gadhafi killed,” Walters said during the interview. “Are you afraid that you might be next?”
“No, I’m afraid that the people won’t support me, Syrian people,” Assad responded.
The interview was the first Assad gave to an American journalist since the uprising began in his country,
Barbara Walters is survived by her daughter Jackie, named for her older sister.
Walters’ father ran nightclubs and was often absent, as she told NPR’s Steve Inskeep in 2008.
“You know, there was such a dichotomy because on the one hand here was this glamorous life of nightclubs and gorgeous showgirls and big stars — Frank Sinatra and Milton Berle. And I’m sure it’s a life that people would look at and envy and think, ‘Oh, isn’t that terrific?’ I didn’t want that,” Walters said. “I wanted a normal life. I wanted a daddy who was home.”
Her father’s livelihood eroded as television ascended, but after graduating from Sarah Lawrence College, Walters joined TV as a writer and producer.
Her shows,some of which she produced, were some of the highest-rated of their type and spawned a number of imitators. Indeed, “The View” – which debuted in 1997 – paved the way for American talk shows “The Talk” and “The Chew,” as well as such entries as Britain’s “Loose Women” and Norway’s “Studio5.”
Walters was born September 25, 1929, in Boston. Her father, Lou, was a nightclub owner and theatrical impresario, and young Barbara grew up around celebrities – one reason she never appeared fazed by interviewing them.
Walters earned her college degree from Sarah Lawrence College in 1953.
Walters was married four times, to business executive Robert Katz, producer Lee Guber and twice to entertainment mogul Merv Adelson. The second marriage to Adelson ended in 1992. She is survived by her daughter, Jackie, whom she and Guber adopted in 1968.
