Barbara Walters is a journalist and writer who established an interview style of asking probing questions, but in a casual way to keep interviewees comfortable. She utilized that trademark technique in her long tenures on NBC’s Today show and ABC’s 20/20, as well as the talk show, The View. As the famous journalist celebrates her 93rd birthday, we take a look at her long career in media.
Walters was born on September 25, 1929, in Boston Massachusetts. In 1937, her father opened several nightclubs from Boston down to Miami Beach, Florida. Because of this, she was around celebrities from a young age, which later accounted for her relaxed demeanor during interviews with famous people.
She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York in 1953 with a bachelor’s degree in English. Walters’ first journalism job was as the assistant to Tex McCary, a publicity director and Republican activist with an NBC affiliate. From there, she moved to CBS to write for the Morning Show.
Walters started working for the Today show in ’61 as a researcher and writer, and after a few months, she pushed for an assignment to travel with First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy on her trip to India and Pakistan. Soon she became a co-host of the show and in ’72 was chosen to accompany President Richard Nixon on his trip to China.
In ’76 she joined ABC as the first woman to co-anchor a network evening news program, moderated the final presidential debate between Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford, and launched her Barbara Walters Specials with an interview of President Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter. She joined 20/20 as a correspondent in ’79, and scored Nixon’s first TV interview after his resignation.
Walters became a co-host of the program in ’84, and held that position until 2004. She did the first interview with Christopher Reeve after the horseback riding accident that left him paralyzed and her interview with Monica Lewinsky made history as the highest-rated news broadcast on a single network. Her list of interview subjects has included UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the Dalai Lama, Russian President Boris Yeltsin, Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, and Fidel Castro.
Walters premiered The View in ’97 as a co-host and co-executive producer. The mid-morning talk show includes a group of women from various backgrounds and perspectives who discuss politics, news, and other public interest topics.
She retired from TV journalism in May 2013, but remained an executive producer on The View and hosted the docuseries American Scandals in 2015.
