01of 19Barbara Walters' Early YearsCourtesy Barbara WaltersBarbara Walters(left) and her older sister, Jacqueline (in the 1930s; she died in 1985), had a close bond. “My mother used to dress us alike and spend hours doing our hair,” Walters told PEOPLE. “My sister was very pretty and very sweet. She was what we would probably call ‘developmentally challenged’ today. I loved her dearly.”
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Barbara Walters' Early Years
Courtesy Barbara Walters
Barbara Walters(left) and her older sister, Jacqueline (in the 1930s; she died in 1985), had a close bond. “My mother used to dress us alike and spend hours doing our hair,” Walters told PEOPLE. “My sister was very pretty and very sweet. She was what we would probably call ‘developmentally challenged’ today. I loved her dearly.”
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Barbara Walters on Today
NBC
03of 19Barbara Walters' Interview StyleHulton Archive/Getty"I don’t get nervous asking questions, not when I’m working," Walters, seen here in a 1965 publicity photo, said. “I have a different kind of confidence — I’m in charge.” However, “I spend my life doing coulda, shoulda, woulda,” she admitted. “My idea of hell is that I finish the interview, turn off the cameras and then someone asks me, ‘Did you ask them such and such?’ And I go, ‘Ack!’ "
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Barbara Walters' Interview Style
Hulton Archive/Getty
“I don’t get nervous asking questions, not when I’m working,” Walters, seen here in a 1965 publicity photo, said. “I have a different kind of confidence — I’m in charge.” However, “I spend my life doing coulda, shoulda, woulda,” she admitted. “My idea of hell is that I finish the interview, turn off the cameras and then someone asks me, ‘Did you ask them such and such?’ And I go, ‘Ack!’ "
04of 19Barbara Walters Covers PoliticsNBC/GettyBy 1968, Walters was a member of the team covering both the Democratic and Republican National Party Conventions for theTodayshow.
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Barbara Walters Covers Politics
NBC/Getty
By 1968, Walters was a member of the team covering both the Democratic and Republican National Party Conventions for theTodayshow.
05of 19Barbara Walters' MarriagesRowland Scherman/Getty ImagesWalters married businessman Robert Henry Katz in 1955, though their marriage was annulled in 1957. In 1963, she moved on with theater producer Lee Guber, pictured here at home with Walters. The two divorced, however, in 1976.
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Barbara Walters' Marriages
Rowland Scherman/Getty Images
Walters married businessman Robert Henry Katz in 1955, though their marriage was annulled in 1957. In 1963, she moved on with theater producer Lee Guber, pictured here at home with Walters. The two divorced, however, in 1976.
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Barbara Walters' Daughter Jacqueline
Nancy Barr Brandon/Mediapunch/Shutterstock
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Barbara Walters' Groundbreaking Moments
Ann Limongello /Walt Disney Television via Getty Images
08of 19Barbara Walters Interviews Richard NixonNBC/GettyThe newswoman, who was part of the press corps that accompanied Richard Nixon on his historic trip to China (here in 1972), also famously interviewed the former president in 1980, his first sit-down since resigning the presidency six years earlier. “He sat with us while we got the cameras ready and told off-color jokes to the crew, trying to be one of the guys. That’s [the interview] when he said he was sorry he didn’t burn the [Watergate] tapes,” she recalled.
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Barbara Walters Interviews Richard Nixon
The newswoman, who was part of the press corps that accompanied Richard Nixon on his historic trip to China (here in 1972), also famously interviewed the former president in 1980, his first sit-down since resigning the presidency six years earlier. “He sat with us while we got the cameras ready and told off-color jokes to the crew, trying to be one of the guys. That’s [the interview] when he said he was sorry he didn’t burn the [Watergate] tapes,” she recalled.
09of 19Barbara Walters on the ABC Nightly NewsBarbara Walters in 1976.J Barry O’Rourke /Walt Disney Television via Getty ImagesIn 1976 Walters left NBC for ABC, becoming the first female co-anchor of a network evening news program, but her on-air relationship with Harry Reasoner, was noticeably tense. “I considered thatmy biggest failure,” Walters toldVariety. “I was drowning without a life preserver.“She left the job after two years, eventually joining20/20, ABC’s newsmagazine show, where her interview “gets” included political foes like Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin to the Clinton scandal’s Monica Lewinsky.
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Barbara Walters on the ABC Nightly News
Barbara Walters in 1976.J Barry O’Rourke /Walt Disney Television via Getty Images
In 1976 Walters left NBC for ABC, becoming the first female co-anchor of a network evening news program, but her on-air relationship with Harry Reasoner, was noticeably tense. “I considered thatmy biggest failure,” Walters toldVariety. “I was drowning without a life preserver.”
She left the job after two years, eventually joining20/20, ABC’s newsmagazine show, where her interview “gets” included political foes like Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin to the Clinton scandal’s Monica Lewinsky.
10of 19Barbara Walters and Jimmy CarterNBC/APEight-year-old Jacqueline shared floor space with President-elect Jimmy Carter right before Walters interviewed him and wife Rosalynn Carter for the firstBarbara Walters Specialin 1976; more than 15 million people tuned in. Her preparation for each special was intense: She’d write 50 to 100 questions on separate index cards then agonize about the order, arranging and rearranging them, and adding and discarding questions, until it was interview time.
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Barbara Walters and Jimmy Carter
NBC/AP
Eight-year-old Jacqueline shared floor space with President-elect Jimmy Carter right before Walters interviewed him and wife Rosalynn Carter for the firstBarbara Walters Specialin 1976; more than 15 million people tuned in. Her preparation for each special was intense: She’d write 50 to 100 questions on separate index cards then agonize about the order, arranging and rearranging them, and adding and discarding questions, until it was interview time.
11of 19Barbara Walters in CubaABC/GettyDuring her 1977 interview with Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, “I spent 10 days with him, traveled through the mountains and held his gun in my lap,” Walters said. “Though he could be charming, he was also a dictator. People thought we had a romance, but we never did.”
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Barbara Walters in Cuba
ABC/Getty
During her 1977 interview with Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, “I spent 10 days with him, traveled through the mountains and held his gun in my lap,” Walters said. “Though he could be charming, he was also a dictator. People thought we had a romance, but we never did.”
12of 19Barbara Walters on 20/20Abc News-Tv/Kobal/ShutterstockOn20/20,Walters and cohost Hugh Downs shared “stories that touch your life,” as they’d say on the show.“From day one, we clicked,” Walters said of Downs. “It was a sort of unspoken lovely relationship in the office. The audience felt our affection for each other. We were different kinds of people, different kinds of minds.“The show led to her special,Barbara Walters' 10 Most Fascinating People,which ran annually in December from 1993 to 2015.
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Barbara Walters on 20/20
Abc News-Tv/Kobal/Shutterstock
On20/20,Walters and cohost Hugh Downs shared “stories that touch your life,” as they’d say on the show.
“From day one, we clicked,” Walters said of Downs. “It was a sort of unspoken lovely relationship in the office. The audience felt our affection for each other. We were different kinds of people, different kinds of minds.”
The show led to her special,Barbara Walters' 10 Most Fascinating People,which ran annually in December from 1993 to 2015.
13of 19Barbara Walters and Merv AdelsonRon Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty ImagesWalters' third — and fourth — marriages were to Lorimar Television CEO Merv Adelson. They first wed in 1981, divorcing in 1984; they remarried in 1986 but divorced again in 1992.
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Barbara Walters and Merv Adelson
Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
Walters' third — and fourth — marriages were to Lorimar Television CEO Merv Adelson. They first wed in 1981, divorcing in 1984; they remarried in 1986 but divorced again in 1992.
14of 19Barbara Walters and Katharine HepburnWalt Disney Television via Getty ImagesWhen screen legend Katharine Hepburn likened herself to a tree in a 1981 interview, Walters asked the actress to name the species, a question the newswoman would come to regret. From that moment on, Walters said, “I have been accused of asking peoplewhat kind of a treethey want to be. I hope that in history’s time I will live this down … it actually only happened once.”
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Barbara Walters and Katharine Hepburn
Walt Disney Television via Getty Images
When screen legend Katharine Hepburn likened herself to a tree in a 1981 interview, Walters asked the actress to name the species, a question the newswoman would come to regret. From that moment on, Walters said, “I have been accused of asking peoplewhat kind of a treethey want to be. I hope that in history’s time I will live this down … it actually only happened once.”
15of 19Barbara Walters' Induction into the Television Academy Hall of FameRon Galella/WireImageTwenty-year-old Jacqueline was her mom’s date when the broadcast legend was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1989. “I never realized that she felt out of place in this world,” WalterstoldGlamourof her daughter’s rebellious teen years. “She had a mother of enormous accomplishment, and she felt she could never keep up. I didn’t know how difficult it was for her to have a mother who was a celebrity, because I never thought of myself as a celebrity.”
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Barbara Walters' Induction into the Television Academy Hall of Fame
Ron Galella/WireImage
Twenty-year-old Jacqueline was her mom’s date when the broadcast legend was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1989. “I never realized that she felt out of place in this world,” WalterstoldGlamourof her daughter’s rebellious teen years. “She had a mother of enormous accomplishment, and she felt she could never keep up. I didn’t know how difficult it was for her to have a mother who was a celebrity, because I never thought of myself as a celebrity.”
16of 19Barbara Walters on The ViewThe View panel in 2007.ABC/STEVE FENNIn 1997 Walters createdThe View,the first morning talk show with four female cohosts — Meredith Vieira, Star Jones, Joy Behar and Debbie Matenopoulos. “Now a lot of people are copyingThe View,” she noted in 2014. “The president of ABC News back in the day told me it would take away from my gravitas to moderate it!”
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Barbara Walters on The View
The View panel in 2007.ABC/STEVE FENN
In 1997 Walters createdThe View,the first morning talk show with four female cohosts — Meredith Vieira, Star Jones, Joy Behar and Debbie Matenopoulos. “Now a lot of people are copyingThe View,” she noted in 2014. “The president of ABC News back in the day told me it would take away from my gravitas to moderate it!”
17of 19Barbara Walters and Barack ObamaLou Rocco/ABC/GettyIn May 2012, PresidentBarack ObamavisitedThe View,with Walters there to help run the interview.
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Barbara Walters and Barack Obama
Lou Rocco/ABC/Getty
In May 2012, PresidentBarack ObamavisitedThe View,with Walters there to help run the interview.
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Barbara Walters on Retiring
Richard Perry/The New York Times
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Barbara Walters Dies
Mireya Acierto/Getty Images
source: people.com
