Barbara Walters: Trailblazing Broadcast Journalist and Creator of The Vi

Barbara Walters was an American broadcast journalist and television personality who broke barriers for women in news and became known for her intimate celebrity interviews. Born Barbara Jill Walters on September 25, 1929, in Boston, she was the daughter of nightclub impresario Lou Walters.

Walters became co-host of NBC's Today in 1974, the first woman to co-host an American news program. In 1976 she became the first woman to co-anchor a network evening newscast, alongside Harry Reasoner on ABC Evening News. She worked on ABC's 20/20 from 1979 to 2004 and created and co-hosted The View in 1997, which won a Daytime Emmy for Best Talk Show in 2003.

Walters interviewed every sitting U.S. president and first lady from the Nixons to the Obamas, and her specials drew enormous audiences. Gilda Radner parodied her as "Baba Wawa" on Saturday Night Live. Walters married four times to three men and adopted a daughter, Jacqueline. She died at her home in Manhattan on December 30, 2022, at age 93. Remembered for opening doors for women in broadcasting, she changed the landscape of television news.

Achievements: Co-hosted Today, first woman to co-host a news program (1974), first woman network evening news co-anchor (1976), correspondent on 20/20 (1979-2004), created The View (1997).

Birth: September 25, 1929 - Boston, Massachusetts.

Profession: Broadcast journalist and television personality.

Interesting Facts: She interviewed every sitting U.S. president and first lady from Richard and Pat Nixon to Barack and Michelle Obama. Her "Baba Wawa" parody by Gilda Radner became one of Saturday Night Live's most famous impressions.