Legendary US broadcaster Barbara Walters has died aged 93, multiple outlets have reported.
The television personality, who is known for her glittering career spanning 50 years hosting shows such as Today, The View and 20/20, died on December 30, 2022, ABC News reported.
Walters is being remembered as a trailblazing icon in journalism. She also became the first female anchor on a network news program in the US after joining ABC News in 1976.
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“Barbara Walters passed away peacefully in her home surrounded by loved ones. She lived her life with no regrets. She was a trailblazer not only for female journalists, but for all women,” her publicist Cindi Berger said in a statement.
Walters began her broadcast carer while reporting about the John. F Kennedy assassination on-air in 1963, delivering on-the-ground news from New York City.
In 1997, Walters launched The View and made her final appearance on the talk show in 2014.
“I do not want to appear on another program or climb another mountain,” she told the audience during her final episode.
“I want instead to sit on a sunny field and admire the very gifted women – and OK, some men too – who will be taking my place.”
During her long career as a broadcast journalist, Walters interviewed US President Ronald Reagan, Donald Trump, Monica Lewinsky, Cuban President Fidel Castro and even Vladimir Putin.
Walters’ interview with Lewinsky on 20/20 in 1999 drew in a record-breaking 74 million viewers. This was the biggest audience ever for a journalist’s television interview.
During the now-iconic interview, Walters asked Lewinsky, “What will you tell your children about this matter?”
Lewinsky famously replied: “I guess Mummy made some mistakes.”
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“I asked Vladimir Putin if he ever ordered anyone to be killed,” she once recalled, ABC News reports. “For the record, he said ‘no.'”
Walters’ colleagues and admirers have taken to social media to mourn the death of a TV icon, who was inducted into the television Hall of Fame in 1989.
“Barbara Walters was an American institution. As the first female national news anchor, she opened the door to endless possibilities for so many girls who wanted to work in TV, myself included,” actress Lynda Carter wrote on Twitter. “Her impact cannot be overstated. I’ll miss you, Barbara. Thank you for everything.”
“So sad to hear of the passing of Barbara Walters. What an honor to share the set @ABC with the inimitable trailblazer when I joined ABC 20″ Walters’ colleagues Deborah Roberts wrote.
“Will never forget the phone call when she asked me to join the groundbreaking program.”
The journalist was even recognised with a Hollywood Walk of Fame star in 2007.
Walters is survived by her daughter, Jacqueline Dena Guber.
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