Barbara Walters Through the Years: From ’20/20′ Icon to ‘The View’ Creator

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Barbara Walters Through the Years: From '20/20' Icon to 'The View' Creator

A television icon. Barbara Walters spent six decades as a hard-hitting journalist — interviewing everyone from controversial political leaders to some of the world’s most high-profile stars — prior to her retirement in 2014. Walters kicked off her career in the 1960s on the Today show, where she went from working behind the scenes as a producer and writer to making her way in front of the camera as a popular cohost. Her reach only expanded in the following decade when she landed a different cohost position, this time at ABC Evening News — the network that she would call home for the next five decades. The Massachusetts native’s tenure on the news program, coupled with her own Barbara Walters Special, gave her access to (and insight into) public figures ranging from President Richard Nixon and Fidel Castro to Lucille Ball and Fred Astaire. In 1979, Walters landed another career-defining role as the host of ABC’s 20/20, a position she held until 2004. As the television anchor continued to lead the industry with countless celebrity interviews, her own fame grew as well. Her enduring catchphrase — “I’m Barbara Walters, and this is 20/20” — held up so well through the decades that she briefly came out of retirement in order to utter the words on New Year’s Eve 2019. [jwplayer 1mfpq58C-zhNYySv2] Walters not only carved out a path for herself during her many years in the television industry, but also amplified the voices of her fellow female stars with the creation of The View in 1997. After the broadcast journalist founded the Emmy-winning daytime talk show, she cohosted the popular series for close to 20 years, sparring and discussing current events with various iterations of fellow hosts, including Rosie O’Donnell and Whoopi Goldberg. In May 2013, Walters announced she would be retiring the following year. “I’ve been thinking about it for a long time and this is what I want to do. ... I’m not walking into the sunset. I don’t want to appear on another program,” she told viewers at the time. “I want instead to sit in a sunny field and admire the gifted women and OK, some men, too, who will be taking my place. I’ve had an amazing career beyond anything I could ever have imagined." On December 30, 2022, Walters’ publicist confirmed to Variety that the Emmy winner died at age 93.  Keep scrolling to see Walters’ most memorable moments — including her multiple marriages and her incredible career success — through the years:

Credit: Abc News-Tv/Kobal/Shutterstock

Barbara Walters Through the Years: From '20/20' Icon to 'The View' Creator

A television icon. Barbara Walters spent six decades as a hard-hitting journalist — interviewing everyone from controversial political leaders to some of the world’s most high-profile stars — prior to her retirement in 2014. Walters kicked off her career in the 1960s on the Today show, where she went from working behind the scenes as a producer and writer to making her way in front of the camera as a popular cohost. Her reach only expanded in the following decade when she landed a different cohost position, this time at ABC Evening News — the network that she would call home for the next five decades. The Massachusetts native’s tenure on the news program, coupled with her own Barbara Walters Special, gave her access to (and insight into) public figures ranging from President Richard Nixon and Fidel Castro to Lucille Ball and Fred Astaire. In 1979, Walters landed another career-defining role as the host of ABC’s 20/20, a position she held until 2004. As the television anchor continued to lead the industry with countless celebrity interviews, her own fame grew as well. Her enduring catchphrase — “I’m Barbara Walters, and this is 20/20” — held up so well through the decades that she briefly came out of retirement in order to utter the words on New Year’s Eve 2019. [jwplayer 1mfpq58C-zhNYySv2] Walters not only carved out a path for herself during her many years in the television industry, but also amplified the voices of her fellow female stars with the creation of The View in 1997. After the broadcast journalist founded the Emmy-winning daytime talk show, she cohosted the popular series for close to 20 years, sparring and discussing current events with various iterations of fellow hosts, including Rosie O’Donnell and Whoopi Goldberg. In May 2013, Walters announced she would be retiring the following year. “I’ve been thinking about it for a long time and this is what I want to do. ... I’m not walking into the sunset. I don’t want to appear on another program,” she told viewers at the time. “I want instead to sit in a sunny field and admire the gifted women and OK, some men, too, who will be taking my place. I’ve had an amazing career beyond anything I could ever have imagined." On December 30, 2022, Walters’ publicist confirmed to Variety that the Emmy winner died at age 93.  Keep scrolling to see Walters’ most memorable moments — including her multiple marriages and her incredible career success — through the years:

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1960s

The broadcast journalist began her career on the Today show in the ‘60s, working her way from producer and writer to beloved cohost.

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1960s and ‘70s

Walters — who divorced her first husband, Robert Henry Katz, just under a year after they tied the knot in 1957 — married her second husband, Lee Guber, in 1963. The pair divorced 13 years later.

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1968

Five years before calling it quits, Walters and Guber adopted a daughter, Jacqueline. In 2014, the TV personality revealed that she regretted not spending more time with her only child as she grew up.

“I was so busy with a career. It’s the age-old problem. And, you know, on your deathbed, are you going to say, ‘I wish I spent more time in the office?’ No. You’ll say, ‘I wish I spent more time with my family,’ and I do feel that way,” the journalist admitted in her TV special, Barbara Walters: Her Story. “I wish I had spent more time with my Jackie.”

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1980s

Walters tied the knot with her third husband, TV producer Merv Adelson, twice in the same decade. They first gave marriage a shot from 1981 to 1984, and then again from 1986 to 1992. Despite their second chance at love, the couple was fated to divorce twice.

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1980s

Though the ‘80s were a difficult time in Walters’ love life, her career was in full-gear as the high-profile host of 20/20 — a role she quickly became known for and thrived in for decades.

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1989

Walters’ immense success was recognized with her induction into the Television Hall of Fame in 1989.

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1993

The following decade saw the iconic reporter launch her annual series, Barbara Walters’ 10 Most Fascinating People, in which she interviewed who she deemed the top 10 public figures every year.

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1997

Four years after the premiere of Walters’ 10 Most Fascinating People, she changed the talk show landscape as fans knew it with the creation of The View. The ABC personality not only founded and produced the long-running daytime show, but cohosted it for nearly 20 years.

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2007

Ten years after creating The View, Walters was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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2008

The broadcast journalist earned a title only handed out to the most elite: Disney Legend. While she didn’t directly work for The Mouse, her long-standing career at ABC — which is owned by Disney — granted her the honor.

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2014

After six decades in the business, Walters officially retired in 2014 — though she has occasionally made appearances on TV in the years since.

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2022

The former View cohost died at age 93 on December 30. The news was confirmed to Variety by Walter’s publicist later that day.