The veteran broadcaster passed away at her New York home on Friday (30.12.22) evening at the age of 93, her representative, Cindi Berger, has confirmed.
Barbara Walters
Cindi said in a statement: "Barbara Walters passed away peacefully in her home surrounded by loved ones. She lived a big life.
"She lived her life with no regrets. She was a trailblazer not only for female journalists, but for all women."
Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger was one of the first to announce the "one-of-a-kind reporter" had passed away.
He tweeted: "I have sad news to share today. Barbara Walters passed away this evening at her home in New York."
The businessman hailed his old friend as a "true legend" and a "pioneer" in an accompanying statement.
He wrote: "Barbara was a true legend, a pioneer not just for women in journalism but for journalism itself.
"She was a one-of-a-kind reporter who landed many of the most important interviews of our time, from heads of state and leaders of regimes to the biggest celebrities and sports icons.
"I had the pleasure of calling Barbara a colleague for more than three decades, but more importantly, I was able to call her a dear friend.
"She will be missed by all of us at The Walt Disney Company, and we send our deepest condolences to her daughter, Jacqueline."
Barbara was born in Boston on 25 September, 1929, and grew up in New York regularly surrounded by the famous friends of her father, Broadway producer and nightclub owner Lou Walters.
After graduating from Sarah Lawrence College with a degree in English, Barbara had a brief stint as a writer for CBS News before launching her TV news career at NBC's 'Today' show, where she landed a job as a writer and researcher in 1961. She gradually moved up the ranks, giving weather reports and covering features before becoming reporter-at-large and, ultimately, the programme's first female co-host alongside Hugh Downs and Frank McGee.
She left NBC to become co-anchor on 'ABC Evening News' in 1976 and three years later, joined the network's feature programme '20/20', on which she stayed as host until 2004, interviewing the likes of Michael Jackson, Richard Nixon, Vladimir Putin and Monica Lewinsky during her time there.
In addition, she also served as moderator during a number of presidential debates.
In 1997, Barbara - who scooped three Emmy Awards, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and various Lifetime Achievement accolades over the years - founded her daytime talk show 'The View' and made frequent appearances as co-host until retiring from the programme in 2014.
From 1993 to 2015, with the exception of 2000 and 2001, she ended the year with her ABC special 'Most Fascinating People'.
Barbara was married four times to three different men. She went Robert Henry Ratz in June 1956 but their union was annulled 11 months later. She went on to tie the knot with theatre producer Lee Guber in 1963 and divorced in 1976, eight years after adopting their baby daughter Jacqueline. Barbara married Lorimar Television CEO Merv Adelson in 1981 and they divorced in 1984, only to reconcile and exchange vows again in 1986. She never married again after their second divorce in 1992.
In her 2008 autobiography, 'Audition', Barbara revealed she had had an affair with US Senator Edward Brooke in the 1970s and dated Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan around the same time.
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