Barbara Walters, the intrepid interviewer and program host who led the way as the first woman to become a US TV news superstar during a remarkable career, has died at the age of 93.
Walters’ death was announced by ABC on air on Friday night.
During nearly four decades at the network, and before that at NBC, Walters’ exclusive interviews with rulers, royalty and entertainers brought her celebrity status that ranked with theirs, while placing her at the forefront of the trend in broadcast journalism that made stars of TV reporters and brought news programs into the race for higher ratings.
Walters interviewed an array of world leaders, including Fidel Castro, Margaret Thatcher, Muammar Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein and every US president and first lady since Richard and Pat Nixon.
She earned 12 Emmy awards, 11 of those while at ABC News, the network said.
Walter began her journalism career on NBC’s The Today Show in the 1960s as a writer and segment producer.
Walters made headlines in 1976 as the first female network news anchor, opposite Harry Reasoner, with an unprecedented $1m annual salary that drew gasps and criticism – while lost in the outcry were her additional duties extending beyond news.
Her drive was legendary as she competed – not just with rival networks, but with colleagues at her own network – for each big “get” in a world jammed with more and more interviewers, including female journalists who had followed on the trail she blazed.
“I never expected this!” Walters said in 2004, taking measure of her success. “I always thought I’d be a writer for television. I never even thought I’d be in front of a camera.”
But she was a natural on camera, especially when plying notables with questions.
“I’m not afraid when I’m interviewing, I have no fear.” Walters told Associated Press in 2008.
With Associated Press and Reuters
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