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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.”

1975Wins 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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