Barbara Walters Fast Facts
CNN Editorial Research
Here’s a look at the life of famed journalist Barbara Walters.
Personal
Birth date: September 25, 1929 (some sources say 1931)
Death date: December 30, 2022
Birth place: Boston, Massachusetts
Birth name: Barbara Jill Walters
Father: Lou Walters, a theater producer
Mother: Dena (Selett) Walters
Marriages: Merv Adelson (1986-1992, divorced); Lee Guber (1963-1976, divorced); Robert Henry Katz (1955-1958, divorced)
Children: Adopted with Guber: Jackie, 1968
Education: Sarah Lawrence College, B.A., 1953
Other Facts
Walters interviewed every US president and first lady from Richard and Pat Nixon through Barack and Michelle Obama.
Other notable interviews include Fidel Castro, a joint interview with Israel’s Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, Michael Jackson and Monica Lewinsky.
Nominated for 33 Daytime Emmy Awards and won three. Also received an honorary award.
Nominated for 19 News and Documentary Emmy Awards and won seven. Also received an honorary award.
Nominated for 11 Primetime Emmys and won once. Also received an honorary award.
Timeline
1961-1974 – Reporter, writer and panel member on NBC’s “The Today Show.”
1974-1976 – Co-hosts “The Today Show.”
1975 – Wins a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Host or Hostess in a Talk, Service or Variety Series for “Today.”
1976-2014 – Host of “The Barbara Walters Specials.” The special “10 Most Fascinating People” became a regular year-end program.
1976-1978 – Becomes the first female to co-anchor “ABC World News Tonight” for an unprecedented salary of $1 million a year.
1980 – Wins a News & Documentary Emmy for Programs and Program Segments for “Post Election Special Edition.”
1982 – Wins a News & Documentary Emmy for Outstanding Interview/Interviewer (Program) for “The Barbara Walters Specials.”
1983 – Wins a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Informational Series for “The Barbara Walters Specials.”
1983 – Wins a News & Documentary Emmy for Outstanding Interview/Interviewer (Segment) for “There But For The Grace Of God.”
1984-2004 – Co-host and chief correspondent for ABC’s “20/20.” She gives up her regular spot on the show in September 2004 but continues to report on occasion.
1987 – Wins a News & Documentary Emmy for Outstanding Interview/Interviewer (Segment) for “The Woman Under The Crane.”
January 7, 1990 – Is inducted into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame.
1992 – Wins a News & Documentary Emmy for Outstanding Interview/Interviewer (Segment) for “Arthur Seale/Patricia Reso Interviews – No Way Out.”
1996 – Wins a Peabody award for the “20/20” episode “The Journey of Christopher Reeve.”
1997-May 16, 2014 – Co-host of “The View.”
1999 – Wins a News & Documentary Emmy for Special Classification for Outstanding News and Documentary Program for “The Millennium.”
2000 – Winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award for Daytime Television.
2003 – Wins a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show (Executive Producer) for “The View.”
June 14, 2007 – Receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
May 2008 – Reveals that she had an affair with married US Senator Edward Brooke for several years in the 1970s.
2009 – Wins a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show Host for “The View.”
2009 – Wins a News & Documentary Emmy for Outstanding Live Coverage of a Current News Story – Long Form for “Inauguration 2009 – Barack Obama.”
September 21, 2009 – Receives a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards.
May 2010 – Undergoes heart surgery to repair a valve.
January 19, 2013 – Is hospitalized after falling on a stair while visiting the British ambassador’s residence, leaving her with a cut on her forehead.
May 13, 2013 – Announces on “The View” that she will retire from TV journalism in summer 2014.
May 16, 2014 – Walters’ last episode as co-host of “The View” airs. She continues as co-executive producer.
February 2015 – Donates $15 million to Sarah Lawrence College towards the Barbara Walters Campus Center. The Center officially opens on August 31, 2019.
December 30, 2022 – Dies at the age of 93.
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