Barbara Walters passed away December 30, 2022, at the age of 93.
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, the trailblazing journalist started her career in the 1960s. She still holds the record for the most watched TV interview ever — her special with Monica Lewinsky drew 74 million viewers.
“I was the kind nobody thought could make it,” Barbara Walters once explained. “I had a funny Boston accent. I couldn’t pronounce my Rs. I wasn’t a beauty.”
The world of journalism will miss her candid style. To celebrate her life, here are a few of her most iconic moments:
Her debut on “Today”
Walters began her career as a writer and producer on “Today,” where she was mostly assigned “women’s interests” segments. She eventually started appearing in front of the camera, and in 1974, she was made a co-host — becoming the first woman to host a news program in the United States.
Report on the John F Kennedy assassination
Asked to report on the mood in New York after President Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, a still young Walters delivered a flawless 5-minute report without notes or a teleprompter, garnering the attention of news executives.
Fidel Castro
Walters showed her fearlessness during a 1977 interview with Cuban Communist leader Fidel Castro.
The Kardashian
In 2011, The Kardashian clan sat down with Barbara Walters after making her “10 Most Fascinating People” list. Walters, like most of America at the time, wanted to know what the Kardashian really did to deserve that title.
“You don’t have any talents,” said Walters while interviewing the Kardashian clan in 2011.
Mariah Carey
Pop diva Mariah Carey and rap sensation Nicki Minaj had an on going beef during their time on American Idol. Carey rubbed Minaj the wrong way when she confessed that she didn’t know the rapper.
Minaj — a 10-time Grammy nominee — found that hard to believe, and took to her music to call Carey out. Leave it to Barbara Walters to recite the lyrics and question Carey about it.
During her career, Walters interviewed everyone from actress Audrey Hepburn to Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. She won 12 Emmy awards.
“Success can make you go one of two ways,” Walters once reflected. “It can make you a prima donna, or it can smooth the edges, take away the insecurities, let the nice things come out.”
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