Walters, Barbara (1929–)

American tv journalist. Born Sept 25, 1929, in Boston, Massachusetts; dau. of Lou Walters (show-business entrepreneur) and Dena (Seletsky) Walters; Sarah Lawrence College, BA in English, 1951; m. Bob Katz (businessman), 1955 (div. 1958); m. Lee Gruber (producer), 1963 (div. 1976); m. Merv Adelman (movie studio executive), 1986 (div. 1992); children: (adopted) Jacqueline Gruber.

Award-winning tv journalist, particularly known for her celebrity interviews and news specials, who was the 1st woman to co-host a major network news program; had 1st job in broadcasting writing press releases for WNBC in New York City; hired as a writer for "Today"(1961) and eventually given on-screen reporting segments on topics the network deemed of interest to women; improved journalistic fortunes when she became part of the press corps traveling to Egypt with Jacqueline Kennedy (1962); named co-host for "Today" (1974); became the industry's 1st news anchor to earn a salary of $1 million when she moved to ABC to co-anchor its evening newscast (1976); in the years since, has interviewed everyone from Fidel Castro to Ronald Reagan, co-hosted ABC's long-running news magazine show "20/20," as well as a string of Barbara Walters Specials and "The View," and was presented with 7 Emmy awards; by the end of the century, was the highest-paid and longest-employed woman in broadcasting. Received Peabody Award for interview with actor Christopher Reeve (1995); was the 1st woman inducted into American Academy of Television Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame.

See also Jerry Oppenheimer, Barbara Walters: An Unauthorized Biography (St. Martin, 1990); Henna Remstein, Barbara Walters (Chelsea House, 1999); and Women in World History.