Frank McGee, the anchor of “Today,” demanded that he be allowed to ask three questions during key interviews before Barbara Walters got to ask her first.
So Walters, whose renowned career spans half a century, began interviewing prominent leaders and celebrities outside the studio, away from McGee’s restrictions.
Born in 1929, Walters started working at “Today” as a writer in the early 1960s. She worked her way up during her years with the program, eventually becoming its first female co-host in 1974, after McGee died.
Two years later, she moved to ABC News, becoming the first woman to be the co-anchor of a nightly network newscast. She was co-anchor of ABC Evening News from 1976 to 1978 and then served as co-host of the network’s newsmagazine show “20/20” from 1979 to 2004. Walters also created “The View” in 1997 and served as one of its hosts until 2014.
In a 2004 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Walters said that she didn’t set out to be a pioneer.
“I didn’t deliberately pave the way,” she said.
— Naomi Jagoda
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