John F. Kennedy
Famous Military Veterans
Marilyn Monroe
Anthony Weiner
My Ghost Story
I Survived
Babe Ruth
Johnny Cash
Georgia O'Keefe
I Survived
1 photo
Quick Facts
- NAME: Barbara Walters
- OCCUPATION: News Anchor, Television Producer, Journalist
- BIRTH DATE: September 25, 1929 (Age: 83)
- Did You Know?: Walters is the first woman to co-anchor a network evening news program.
- EDUCATION: Sarah Lawrence College
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Boston, Massachusetts
- Full Name: Barbara Jill Walters
- AKA: Barbara Walters
- Nickname: "Today Girl"
- ZODIAC SIGN: Libra
Best Known For
Famed television journalist Barbara Walters is best known as the 11-year star of the Today show, and for being the first female co-anchor of a network evening news program.
Videos see all videos
Barbara Walters - Million Dollar Anchor
Barbara Walters is hired by ABC News as Harry Reasoner's co-anchor and becomes the highest paid anchor at the time.
Barbara Walters - News Pioneer
Harry Reasoner unwillingly works as co-anchor with Barbara Walters and shows his contempt.
Barbara Walters - College Years
Barbara Walters interviews with Harry Smith and reveals her early ambitions of becoming an actress.
Barbara Walters - The Big Break
Barbara Walters gets a big break when asked to cover Jackie Kennedy on her visit to India.
Quiz
Think you know about Biography?
Answer questions and see how you rank against other players.
Play NowBarbara Walters. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 05:49, May 25, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/barbara-walters-9523127.
Barbara Walters. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/barbara-walters-9523127 [Accessed 25 May 2013].
"Barbara Walters." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 25 2013, 05:49 http://www.biography.com/people/barbara-walters-9523127.
"Barbara Walters," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/barbara-walters-9523127 [accessed May 25, 2013].
"Barbara Walters," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/barbara-walters-9523127 (accessed May 25, 2013).
Barbara Walters [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 25] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/barbara-walters-9523127.
Barbara Walters, http://www.biography.com/people/barbara-walters-9523127 (last visited May 25, 2013).
Barbara Walters. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/barbara-walters-9523127. Accessed May 25, 2013.
Synopsis
Journalist Barbara Walters was born on September 25, 1929, in Boston, Massachusetts. In the early 1950s, Walters wrote for the Morning Show, airing on CBS. Throughout the 1960s and '70s, she developed her trademark interviewing style though long-standing jobs on NBC's Today show and ABC's 20/20. In 1997, Barbara Walters premiered a since popular talk show called The View.
Contents
Quotes
"[Success] can make you a prima donna, or it can smooth the edges, take away the insecurities, let the nice things come out."
Early Life
Journalist and writer Barbara Jill Walters was born on September 25, 1929, in Boston, Massachusetts, the daughter of Dena Seletsky Walters and nightclub impresario Lou Walters. She had two siblings: older sister Jacqueline, who was born developmentally disabled and died in 1985, and brother Burton, who died of pneumonia in 1932. Walters was born Jewish, though her parents weren't practicing Jews.
In 1937, Lou Walters opened a chain of nightclubs that expanded his business from Boston, Massachusetts, to Miami Beach, Florida. As a result, Barbara attended Fieldston and Birch Wathen private schools in New York City, and graduated from Miami Beach High School in 1947. Barbara was surrounded by celebrities from an early age, which has been said to account for her relaxed manner when interviewing famous people.
Walters attended Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York, graduating in 1953 with a bachelor's degree in English. After a brief stint as a secretary, she landed her first job in journalism as the assistant to publicity director and Republican activist Tex McCary of WRCA-TV. After sharpening her writing and producing skills at the NBC affiliate, Walters moved to CBS, where she wrote material for the network's Morning Show. In 1955, she married business executive Robert Henry Katz. They divorced in 1958.
Television Journalist
In 1961, NBC hired Barbara Walters to work as a researcher and writer for its popular Today show. Her initial assignments were stories slanted toward female viewers. Within a few months, however, she lobbied for a breakthrough assignment to travel with First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy on a trip to India and Pakistan. The resulting report earned Walters increasing responsibility at the network.
In 1963, she married theatrical producer Lee Guber. They adopted a daughter, Jacqueline Dena, named after Walters's sister and mother. Walters and Guber divorced in 1976.
By 1964, Walters became a staple of the Today show—starring alongside Hugh Downs and, later, Frank McGee—and earned the nickname "Today girl." Though serving as a co-host, she wasn't given that official billing until 1974, and was restricted from asking questions of the show's "serious" guests until the male co-host had finished asking his.
Household Name
Walters remained on the show for 11 years, during which time she honed her trademark probing-yet-casual interviewing technique. By 1972, she has established herself as a competent journalist, and was chosen to be part of the press corps that accompanied President Nixon on his historic trip to China.
profile name: Barbara Walters profile occupation:
Your Connections
Sign in with Facebook to see how you and your friends are connected to famous icons.
Profile Connections
Included In These Groups
-
Numerous Nuptials
View groupLife imitates art in Hollywood, where passionate romances turn into short-lived marriages and quickie divorces. Numerous nuptials are one of the hallmarks of the celebrity lifestyle. Hollywood royalty Elizabeth Taylor married eight times—even more than real royalty King Henry VIII, who married six times. Here's a look at the famous individuals who tied the knot—and then tied it again, and again, and again.
Numerous Nuptials 37 people in this group
-
Famous People Involved in Sex Scandals
View groupWhat is it with celebrities and sex scandals? Like love and marriage, famous people and sex scandals just seem to go hand in hand. They're some of society's most powerful people, but these actors, politicians, athletes and musicians just can't seem to control their desires. These days it seems like if you open the closet of nearly any celebrity, some kind of (sexy) skeleton is sure to fall out. Here are the famous people who have had their naughty indiscretions—often plastered all over the front page of the newspaper.
Famous People Involved in Sex Scandals 105 people in this group
-
Female Talk Show Hosts
View groupTaking on topics of politics, entertainment, women's issues and more, female talk show hosts have proven to be every bit as engaging, intelligent, and funny as their male counterparts. Oprah Winfrey's 25-year-reign as the queen of talk is unparalleled, but many other female talk show hosts have come into their own as well, including Tyra Banks, Ellen DeGeneres, Sally Jessy Raphael and Kelly Ripa.
Visit Biography.com's Women's History group to explore more biographies, photos and videos of some the world's most fascinating women.
Female Talk Show Hosts 26 people in this group
