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#Iconic journalist Barbara Walters dead at 93

“Iconic journalist Barbara Walters dead at 93”

Legendary ABC News anchor Barbara Walters, who paved the way as the first woman to become a TV news superstar, died Friday. She was 93.

She “passed away peacefully in her home surrounded by loved ones,” her rep, Cindi Berger, told Page Six in a statement. 

Berger said Walters “lived her life with no regrets. She was a trailblazer not only for female journalists but for all women.”

Walters blazed a trail for women in broadcast news after becoming the first female anchor on an evening news program in 1976 — with an unprecedented $1 million annual salary.

Shortly after, she became the co-host of the iconic investigative program “20/20,” and in 1997, she launched “The View.”

Bob Iger, the CEO of Walt Disney — ABC News’ parent company— said in a statement that Walters was “a true legend” and “a pioneer not just for women in journalism but for journalism itself.”

“She was a one-of-a-kind reporter who landed many of the most important interviews of our time, from heads of state to the biggest celebrities and sports icons,” Iger said. 

“I had the pleasure of calling Barbara a colleague for more than three decades, but more importantly, I was able to call her a dear friend. She will be missed by all of us at The Walt Disney Company, and we send our deepest condolences to her daughter, Jacqueline.”

Barbara Walters
The journalist and broadcaster died in her home with her family by her side, according to her rep.

Barbara Walters
Barbara Walters seems to have stayed out of sight since 2016.


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Barbara Walters
The 93-year-old journalist secured famous interviews and won 12 Emmys.


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In her television career that spanned five decades, Walters gained a reputation as a fearless, hard-hitting interviewer, pushing politicians, royals and entertainers the tough questions that catapulted her to national fame. 

She was renowned as a fierce competitor who battled rival networks and even her own colleagues for the  “big scoop.”

Walters won a whopping 12 Emmys awards for her work, ABC reported.

“I never expected this!” Walters said in 2004, reflecting on her success. “I always thought I’d be a writer for television. I never even thought I’d be in front of a camera.”

Walters had fallen largely out of the public eye since she made her final appearance as the “20/20” co-host in 2014, but continued to serve as an executive producer to the program and continued to do other sporadic interviews, ABC reported.

According to TMZ, she has not been seen publicly since 2016.

A source claimed to RadarOnline in September that the news icon was reportedly suffering from advanced dementia and “spending her final days in a tragic prison of pain,” however Walters never publicly announced any diagnosis or health issues.

Walters was born in Boston in 1929 to Dena and Louis Walters. 

She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York in the 1950s and soon began working as a publicist and TV writer.

In 1961, she got a gig as a writer for NBC’s “Today show,” where should would make occasional on-air appearances dishing unconventional stories like “A Day in the Life of a Nun” or an inside look at the life of a Playboy Bunny.

She would become the program’s first female co-host in 1974, according to ABC.

Walters would go on to win her first Emmy award with NBC in 1975 for Outstanding Talk Show Host.

In one of Walters’ most iconic TV moments, she asked legendary actress Katherine Hepburn an absurd question that she would never live down.

 “What kind of a tree are you?” she asked the “Morning Glory” star before quickly adding “If you think you’re a tree.”

Walters would be teased by the seemingly silly question — which was reportedly not her idea to ask — ceaselessly for years.

Walters’ Boston accent was also regularly mocked by legendary “Saturday Night Live” cast member Gilda Radner in the 1970s, who did an impression of Walters called “Barbara Walter” who couldn’t pronounce her Rs.

Walters said she was not a fan of the impression at first, but said she loved Radner.

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