She was the first woman to anchor an evening network newscast in the U.S., and considered a trailblazer for smashing the gender barrier in the mid-1970s. In May 2013, at the age of 83, she declared, “In the summer of 2014 I plan to retire from appearing on television at all.”
Those were the words of Barbara Walters, who has died at the age of 93 and is being remembered as “a true legend” by The Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger, among likely millions of others across the U.S.
In a statement, Iger called Walters “a pioneer not just for women in journalism but for journalism itself. She was a one-of-a-kind reporter who landed many of the most important interviews of our time, from heads of state to the biggest celebrities and sports icons. I had the pleasure of calling Barbara a colleague for more than three decades, but more importantly, I was able to call her a dear friend. She will be missed by all of us at The Walt Disney Company, and we send our deepest condolences to her daughter, Jacqueline.”
On Saturday (12/31), NAB President/CEO Curtis LeGeyt offered a statement, saying, “Broadcasting has lost a legend with the passing of Barbara Walters. She embodied the true spirit of a broadcaster, always seeking the truth to bring to her viewers with fierce journalistic integrity. Her grit and determination led the way for numerous successful women in journalism who would follow in her footsteps. The NAB extends our condolences to her family.”
Walters joined ABC News in 1976, as an anchor in an era when Walter Cronkite was considered the leading evening newscaster on U.S. broadcast TV. In 1979, with the Iran hostage crisis gripping the U.S., she began hosting “20/20”. Then, in 1997, Walters was the catalyst that launched daytime talk series, “The View.”
She’d be a part of the program through 2014. As RBR+TVBR reported at the time, Walters was hospitalized in January 2013 after falling and cutting her head while leaving a party in Washington, D.C. and remained out of work after developing the chickenpox.
Walters’ TV career began in 1961, when she was hired as a writer for the “TODAY” show at NBC. She moved quickly to on-air work and became the show’s co-host in 1974 before leaving in 1976 to join ABC, where Walters was paired with Harry Reasoner. Their first broadcast was on October 4, 1976.
She preceded her announcement in 2013 that she would be retiring with a video outlining career highlights, from her appearance in a Playboy bunny outfit on “Today” to her interview with Syrian President Bashar Assad in 2013.
Walters’ interviews became her calling card, sitting across from actors and presidents. Her prime-time talk with Monica Lewinsky set a ratings record. According to ABC, some 74 million viewers tuned in to the 1999 interview with the former White House intern who engaged in sexual relations with President Bill Clinton. Toward the end of the interview, Walters asked Lewinsky, “What will you tell your children when you have them?” Lewinsky replied, “Mommy made a big mistake,” to which Walters quipped, “And that is the understatement of the year.”
At the time of her retirement announcement, then-City of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg stopped by to salute Walters. The audience included Iger, and Walters joked with him about appearing on “Dancing With the Stars” together. Bloomberg said to Walters, “You made a difference in how journalism, particularly television journalism, is done today. You didn’t make enemies. You were not nasty about it.”
Walters said, “I’ve had an amazing career — beyond anything I could have imagined, and I hope I have inspired some other women both in front of and behind the camera.”
Barbara Jill Walters was born in Boston on Sept. 25, 1929, to Dena and Louis “Lou” Walters. According to ABC News, her father worked in show business as a booking agent and nightclub producer, and discovered comedians Fred Allen and Jack Haley, who would go on to star as the Tin Man in the classic film “The Wizard of Oz.”
Walters is a Sarah Lawrence College graduate.
Archival reporting by Carl Marcucci.
