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Barbara Walters was born on September 25, 1929, in Boston, Massachusetts.
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Walters attended Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York, graduating in 1953 with a bachelor's degree in English. She landed her first job in journalism as the assistant to publicity director of Tex McCary of WRCA-TV.
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After writing and producing at NBC, Walters moved to CBS where she wrote items for "Morning Show."
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In 1961, she was hired by NBC as a writer for "Today show." Her initial purpose was to find stories that attracted female viewers. By 1964, Walters became a host of the "Today show," starring with Hugh Downs and Frank McGee. This is where she earned the nickname "Today Girl."
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In 1975, Barbara won her first Daytime Entertainment Emmy Award for best host in a talk show.
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After accepting a job at ABC, where she was offered a 1 million dollar annual salary, Walters was the first woman co-anchor of an evening network news program.
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In September 2000, Walters renewed her contract with ABC. Now, with the 12 million dollar annual salary she was now making, this made her the highest paid news host in history.
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After the 9/11 attacks, Barbara flew to Saudi Arabia to interview the brother of Osama bin Laden. The interview gave Americans a different perspective of what Saudi Arabia was like at the times of the attacks
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During her career, Barbara earned many prestigious awards, such as, the Overseas Press Club's highest award and the President's Award. In 1990, she was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame. Barbara Walters will always be remembered for her memorable interviews and the courage she had at the time to be a woman anchor.
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Walters announced her retirment from television journalism in May, 2000. She stated that she would go off-air in 2014, but remain an executive producer on her show "The View."
