NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Barbara Walters, the intrepid interviewer, anchor and program host who blazed the way as the during a career remarkable for its duration and variety, has died. She was 93.
ABC broke into its broadcast to announce Walters' death on air Friday night.
鈥淪he lived her life with no regrets. She was a trailblazer not only for female journalists, but for all women,鈥� her publicist Cindi Berger also said in a statement, adding Walters died peacefully at her New York home.
An ABC spokesperson did not have an immediate comment Friday night beyond sharing a , the CEO of ABC parent The Walt Disney Company.
鈥淏arbara was a true legend, a pioneer not just for women in journalism but for journalism itself,鈥� Iger said.
During nearly four decades at ABC, and before that at NBC, Walters鈥� exclusive interviews with rulers, royalty and entertainers brought her celebrity status that ranked with theirs, while placing her at the forefront of the trend that made stars of TV reporters.
Late in her career, she a live ABC weekday kaffee klatsch with an all-female panel for whom any topic was on the table and who welcomed guests ranging from world leaders to teen idols. With that side venture and unexpected hit, Walters considered 鈥淭he View鈥� the 鈥渄essert鈥� of her career.
A statement from the show said Walters created 鈥淭he View鈥� in 1997 鈥渢o champion women's voices.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檙e proud to be part of her legacy," the statement said.
Walters made headlines in 1976 as the first female network news anchor, with an unprecedented $1 million salary that drew gasps. Her drive was legendary as she competed 鈥� not just with rival networks, but with colleagues at her own network 鈥� for each big 鈥済et鈥� in a world jammed with more and more interviewers, including female journalists following in her trail.
鈥淚 never expected this!鈥� Walters said in 2004, taking stock of her success. 鈥淚 always thought I鈥檇 be a writer for television. I never even thought I鈥檇 be in front of a camera.鈥�
But she was a natural on camera, especially when plying notables with searing questions.
鈥淚鈥檓 not afraid when I鈥檓 interviewing, I have no fear!鈥� Walters told The Associated Press in 2008.
In a voice that never lost its trace of her native Boston accent or its substitution of Ws-for-Rs, Walters lobbed blunt and sometimes giddy questions, often sugarcoated with a hushed, reverential delivery.
鈥淥ffscreen, do you like you?鈥� she once asked actor John Wayne, while Lady Bird Johnson was asked whether she was jealous of her late husband鈥檚 reputation as a ladies鈥� man.
In May 2014, she taped her final episode of 鈥淭he View鈥� amid much ceremony (although she ). During a commercial break, a throng of TV newswomen she had paved the way for 鈥� including Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric, Robin Roberts and Connie Chung 鈥� posed for a group portrait.
鈥淚 have to remember this on the bad days,鈥� Walters said quietly, 鈥渂ecause this is the best.鈥�
Her career began with no such inklings of majesty.
Walters graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1943 and eventually landed a 鈥渢emporary,鈥� behind-the-scenes assignment at 鈥淭oday鈥� in 1961. Shortly afterward, what was seen as the token woman鈥檚 slot among the staff鈥檚 eight writers opened. Walters got the job and began to make occasional on-air appearances with offbeat stories such as 鈥淎 Day in the Life of a Nun鈥� or the tribulations of a Playboy bunny. For the latter, she donned bunny ears and high heels to work at the Playboy Club.
As she appeared more frequently, she was spared the title of 鈥�'Today' Girl鈥� that had been attached to her predecessors. But she had to pay her dues, sometimes sprinting between interviews to do dog food commercials.
She had the first interview with Rose Kennedy after the assassination of her son, Robert, as well as with Princess Grace of Monaco and President Richard Nixon. She traveled to India with Jacqueline Kennedy, to China with Nixon and to Iran to cover the shah鈥檚 gala party. But she faced a setback in 1971 with the arrival of a new host, Frank McGee, who insisted she wait for him to ask three questions before she could open her mouth during interviews with 鈥減owerful persons.鈥�
Although she gained celebrity status in her own right, the celebrity world was familiar to her even as a little girl. Her father was an English-born booking agent who turned an old Boston church into a nightclub. Lou Walters opened other clubs in Miami and New York, and young Barbara spent her after-hours with regulars such as Joseph Kennedy and Howard Hughes.
Those were the good times. But her father made and lost fortunes in a dizzying cycle that taught her success was always at risk of being snatched away, and could neither be trusted nor enjoyed.
Sensing greater freedom and opportunities awaiting her outside the NBC studio, she hit the road to produce more exclusive interviews, including with Nixon chief of staff H.R. Haldeman.
By 1976, she had been granted the title of 鈥淭oday鈥� co-host and was earning $700,000 a year. But when ABC signed her to a $5 million, five-year contract, she was branded the 鈥渢he million-dollar baby.鈥�
Reports failed to note her job duties would be split between the network鈥檚 entertainment division and ABC News, then mired in third place. Meanwhile, Harry Reasoner, her seasoned 鈥淎BC Evening News鈥� co-anchor, was said to resent her salary and celebrity orientation.
It wasn鈥檛 just the shaky relationship with her co-anchor that brought Walters problems.
Comedian Gilda Radner satirized her on 鈥淪aturday Night Live鈥� as a rhotacistic commentator named 鈥淏aba Wawa.鈥� And after her interview with a newly elected President Jimmy Carter in which Walters told Carter 鈥渂e wise with us,鈥� CBS correspondent Morley Safer publicly derided her as 鈥渢he first female pope blessing the new cardinal.鈥�
It was a period that seemed to mark the end of everything she鈥檇 worked for, she later recalled.
鈥淚 thought it was all over: 鈥楬ow stupid of me ever to have left NBC!鈥欌��
But salvation arrived in the form of a new boss: ABC News president Roone Arledge moved her out of the co-anchor slot and into special projects. Meanwhile, she found success with her quarterly primetime interview specials. She became a frequent contributor to newsmagazine 鈥�20/20,鈥漚nd later co-host. A perennial favorite was her review of the year鈥檚 鈥�10 Most Fascinating People.鈥�
By 2004, when she stepped down from 鈥�20/20,鈥� she had logged more than 700 interviews, ranging from Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and Moammar Gadhafi, to Michael Jackson, Erik and Lyle Menendez and Elton John. Her two-hour talk with Monica Lewinsky in 1999, timed to the former White House intern鈥檚 memoir about her affair with President Bill Clinton, drew more than 70 million viewers.
that she had lunch with Walters a few years ago where 鈥渙f course, she was charming, witty and some of her questions were still her signature interview style.鈥�
A special favorite for Walters was Katharine Hepburn, although a 1981 exchange led to one of her most ridiculed questions: 鈥淲hat kind of a tree are you?鈥� (Walters would later object that the question was perfectly reasonable within the context of their conversation).
Walters did pronounce herself guilty of being 鈥渄readfully sentimental鈥� at times and was famous for making her subjects cry, with Oprah Winfrey and Ringo Starr among the more famous shedders.
But her work also received high praise. She won a Peabody Award for her interview with Christopher Reeve shortly after the 1995 horseback-riding accident that left him paralyzed.
Walters鈥� first marriage to businessman Bob Katz was annulled after a year. Her 1963 marriage to theater owner Lee Guber, with whom she adopted a daughter, ended in divorce after 13 years. Her five-year marriage to producer Merv Adelson ended in divorce in 1990. Walters wrote a bestselling 2008 memoir 鈥淎udition,鈥� which caught readers by surprise with her disclosure of a 鈥渓ong and rocky affair鈥� in the 1970s with married U.S. Senator Edward Brooke.
Walters鈥� self-disclosure reached another benchmark in May 2010 when she made an announcement on 鈥淭he View鈥� that, days later, she would undergo heart surgery. She would feature her successful surgery 鈥� and those of other notables, including Clinton and David Letterman 鈥� in a primetime special.
Walters is survived by her daughter, Jacqueline Danforth.
鈥淚 hope that I will be remembered as a good and courageous journalist. I hope that some of my interviews, not created history, but were witness to history, although I know that title has been used," Walters told the AP upon her retirement from 鈥淭he View.鈥� "I think that when I look at what I have done, I have a great sense of accomplishment. I don鈥檛 want to sound proud and haughty, but I think I鈥檝e had just a wonderful career and I鈥檓 so thrilled that I have.鈥�
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Moore, a longtime Associated Press television writer who retired in 2017, was the principal writer of this obituary. Associated Press journalists Stefanie Dazio and Alicia Rancilio contributed to this report.
Frazier Moore, The Associated Press
