Esteemed news anchor and Emmy-award winning journalist Barbara Walters died on December 31, 2022 in her Manhattan home. She was 93 years old.

Walters is acknowledged as a trailblazer for female journalists, particularly those working in broadcast journalism. She was the first female co-host of the “Today” show, and was once the highest paid news anchor in the country. Her hiring opened the doors for news personalities like Katie Couric, Jane Pauley, and Diane Sawyer.

Walters was born on September 25, 1929 to Lou and Dena Walters. Her father was a Boston booking agent and entertainment promoter. Due to her father’s job, Walters grew up around celebrities, and this is often cited as the reason for her unfazed manner and familiarity with her famous guests as she interviewed them on air. The families’ financial situation rose and fell during her adolescence, and Walters attended both private prep schools in New York and public schools in Miami. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence in 1951 with an English degree.

Even though women of her era were expected to immediately find a husband and get married, because of her financial situation, Walters began working at different broadcasting companies, doing work that was mostly behind the scenes. In 1961 she moved to the “Today” show, where she was the first woman to co-host a U.S. news program. In 1976 she was hired at ABC for a salary of $1 million each year for five years, the highest salary ever paid to an anchor, earning her the nickname “million dollar baby.” During this time she was also the first woman to co-anchor the evening news. The job did not work out, as Walters and her co-anchor Harry Reasoner did not have the necessary chemistry, and Walters moved to contribute to and eventually co-anchor the ABC newsmagazine show “20/20.”

Walter’s most well known project was her “Barbara Walters Specials” that made her a star in her own right. She was known for getting the rich and powerful to reveal intimate details about their lives, and often made her guests squirm or cry. She continued to open the door for women later in her career, founding and producing the talk show “The View” which consists of an all female panel of varying ages.

Throughout her illustrious career Walters was both praised for her accomplishments and sharply criticized. She often received little support from the industry she worked in – during her time at the Today show her co-host Frank McGee was allowed to ask the first 3 questions in any interview so people would know who was in charge. She was often parodied on SNL as a character that was known as “Baba Wawa,” a reflection of her speech pattern and her rounded “Rs.”  

Walters was nominated for 12 Emmys over the course of her career, and was given the Lifetime Achievement Award at the daytime Emmys in 2009. She also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Walters has been credited for making current events more entertaining and “bringing showbiz pizzazz to the news programs.” She interviewed every single American president and first lady from Nixon to Trump, and in her autobiography revealed that she regretted never being able to interview Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Princess Diana of Wales. Nevertheless, Walters had a long career getting personal with icons like Katherin Hepburn to controversial figures like Fidel Castro. She will be remembered as a pioneer for women in journalism and a renowned news anchor.

Ms. Walters is survived by her daughter, Jaqueline Danforth.