She’s the first woman in the United States to host a nightly television news program, but it’s just one step in Barbara Walters’ long career. The journalist collects numerous awards and interviews the great personalities of the present. She has now died at the age of 93.
Former news presenter Barbara Walters has died at the age of 93, ABC television, her longtime employer, said Friday night. The head of the US entertainment group Disney, Bob Iger, wrote on Twitter that Walters had died at her home in New York. ABC is owned by Disney.
In 1976, Walters became the first woman in the United States to host an evening news program on television. She later hosted ABC’s daily talk show The View for many years. In 2014, at the age of 84, she retired as a presenter. In her long career, she has been awarded the prestigious US television Emmy award twelve times, according to ABC.
Walters made her television debut in 1961 on NBC’s morning show “Today.” She had previously worked as a television writer. Although television journalism was a male domain at the time, Walters made a determined career. In 1974, she became the first woman to co-host “Today.” From 1976 she presented the “ABC Evening News” and presented the news magazine “20/20” from 1979.
In 1997 she started her afternoon show “The View”, which dealt with current political and social issues. Her countless interviewees included all US Presidents from Richard Nixon to Barack Obama, the Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, but also stars like Michael Jackson, Angelina Jolie and Harrison Ford.
