LEGACY.COM: Trailblazing Television Journalist Barbara Walters Dies Dec. 30 at 93-Years Old

acclaimed for her intimate interviews with celebrities, politicians and public figures

LEGACY.COM – Barbara Walters, a trailblazing television journalist widely known for cohosting “20/20″ and “The View,” and acclaimed for her intimate interviews with celebrities, politicians, and other public figures, died Saturday, December 30 at 93-years old.

An iconic career

Walters’ interviews were a television institution, topping the ratings and prompting watercooler conversations for decades. The Barbara Walters interview became a milestone for celebrities in the entertainment world, a rite of passage that was a key part of a successful career – and an absolute must after a scandal or misstep.

Among her most notable celebrity interview subjects were Katharine Hepburn (1907 – 2003), Michael Jackson (1958 – 2009), and Monica Lewinsky.

Walters’ interviews ranged far beyond entertainers. She was also known for interviewing many of the world’s major heads of state who ruled during her career: Muammar Gaddafi, Margaret Thatcher (1925 – 2013), Boris Yeltsin, Saddam Hussein, Fidel Castro (1926 – 2016) – not to mention every U.S. president since Richard Nixon.

What got Walters to that height of journalistic power was a combination of determination and approachability. Walters fought her way to the top of a male-dominated profession, but she also offered a softer touch that helped relax the people she interviewed.

Producer Stuart Schulberg summed up Walters’ appeal as a profound sense of respect for her subjects. He told Newsweek, “She will not ask the ultimate jugular question” – and knowing that, stars were able to open up in her emotional interviews.

Early life

Also in Walters’ corner was a star-studded upbringing that made her feel naturally at ease among celebrities. Born Sept. 25, 1929, in Boston, Massachusetts, she was the daughter of a showbiz promoter who opened New York City’s glitzy Latin Quarter nightclub and produced the “Ziegfeld Follies” on Broadway. Young Walters would watch shows from the wings, and she grew up surrounded by performers.

When the bottom dropped out of her father’s business, another side of Walters was born – her tough tenacity. She had to help support her family, and she learned a work ethic that stuck with her long after most would have retired to their laurels.

After burnishing her work ethic while still in her teens, Walters made her way to Sarah Lawrence College, then started working as a writer for an ad agency and a public relations firm. It was a short leap to writing for the CBS program “Good Morning,” beginning in 1955, where she learned under head writer Andy Rooney (1919 – 2011). By 1961, she had made the move to NBC’s “Today” show as a writer and researcher.

Journalism career beginnings

On “Today,” Walters soon debuted on the other side of the camera as the “Today Girl,” an on-air personality who handled lightweight stories about inconsequential subjects. It was not a hard-hitting assignment, and Walters would come to call the Today Girls and their fluffy segments “tea-pourers.” Determined to do more with her career, Walters began taking on bigger stories. By 1974, she received a promotion to co-host.

That position was one she had to claw her way to – and it couldn’t happen until the death of former host Frank McGee, who unilaterally refused to do any interview with Walters as co-interviewer. He was one of many who simply didn’t see women as being fit to report real news.

Journalism pioneer

Walters would make a much-lauded move to ABC in 1976 to co-host the “ABC Evening News” with Harry Reasoner. She was considered a trailblazer, making new strides for women in broadcasting, but she found herself saddled with another partner that didn’t respect her as a newswoman. Reasoner didn’t like working with her, and it showed in the pair’s woeful lack of chemistry.

Walters later told Vogue, “He didn’t want a partner, and if he had to have a partner, he was insulted that it was a woman, and that it was a woman who’d been educated in television. He was really awful to me on and off the air. After the first night, I felt a terrible failure. Harry didn’t talk to me in the studio; the stagehands didn’t talk to me. They were all Harry’s people.”

Walters only remained on the “ABC Evening News” for two years, but her next job was to be a long-term one: She signed on with “20/20” in 1979, remaining there until 2004. In 1984, she became co-anchor alongside Hugh Downs (1921 – 2020), and when he retired in 1999, she became the show’s sole anchor. When Walters announced her semi-retirement in 2004, it didn’t entirely end her work with “20/20” – she continued to contribute from time to time.

Also still on her plate post-retirement was “The View,” which Walters created in 1997 as a medium for women of all backgrounds to weigh in on a variety of topics. From the beginning, the concept included Walters only as a part-time on-air star: A panel of regulars would be there daily, while Walters would join them on some days. She continued as the show’s part-time co-host through 2014, when she again announced her retirement and subsequently appeared on the program only infrequently.

Walters was widely honored in the entertainment history, earning three Emmy awards – one for “Today” and two for “The View” – as well as a slew of nominations. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and is a member of the Television Hall of Fame.

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