Longtime ABC News anchorBarbara Waltershas passed away at the age of 93. The trailblazing TV news broadcaster leaves behind a strong legacy as the first female anchor on the evening news and a career in the television industry spanning over fifty years. Walters was 93 at the time of her death, and is survived by her daughter,Jacqueline. Further details surrounding her death have not been released at this stage.Walters is best known for her long journalistic career and creation ofThe View. In 1976, Walters joinedABC Newsand became the first female anchor on an evening news program, before becoming a co-host of20/20in 1979. For over five decades, she interviewed a host of guests, including prominent politicians and celebrities. In 1997, she launchedThe View, appearing as a co-host until 2014, where she continued as an executive producer as well as a few interviews and specials for ABC News. “I do not want to appear on another program or climb another mountain,” she said upon her retirement from the program, making way for more talent to have their chance in the spotlight. “I want instead to sit on a sunny field and admire the very gifted women—and OK, some men too—who will be taking my place.”Whilst Walters has won several awards and grew up in a show business environment, she remained humble. “I would see [celebrities] onstage looking one way and offstage often looking very different. I would hear my parents talk about them and know that even though those performers were very special people, they were also human beings with real-life problems,” Walter told the Television Academy of Arts and Science in 1989 of the lesson she relied upon throughout her career. “I can have respect and admiration for famous people, but I have never had a sense of fear or awe.”
RELATED:‘Cannibal Holocaust’ Director Ruggero Deodato Dead at 83Whilst her father,Louis ‘Lou’ Waltersworked in show business and discovered comedians likeFred AllenandJack Haley(the Tinman inThe Wizard of Oz(1939)), Walters attributed her ambition to her older sister. In her 2008 memoirAudition, she revealed that she wanted to succeed for her sister, Jaqueline, who was born developmentally disabled. This success was achieved in not only her career’s longevity, but in the winning of twelve Emmy awards, eleven of which were for her time at ABC News.Tributes are already pouring in for the late anchor. “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 or regimes to the biggest celebrities and sports icons,” Walt Disney CEOBob Igerwrote in a statement shared to hisTwitter account. “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.”Our condolences go out to Walters’ family, friends, and colleagues. Watch ABC News' tribute to Walters below:
