Barbara Walters, a high-profile journalist widely known for being the first female anchor on an evening television news broadcast, as well as being the creator of the daytime talk show “The View,” has died at the age of 93.
ABC announced her death late Friday. The news station also posted an announcement of her death on Twitter.
The cause of death was not immediately disclosed. Walters is survived by her only daughter, Jacqueline Danforth.
“Barbara Walters, who shattered the glass ceiling and became a dominant force in an industry once dominated by men, has died,” ABC stated.
Separately, Walters’s publicist Cindi Berger said in a statement: “Barbara Walters passed away peacefully in her home surrounded by loved ones. She lived her life with no regrets. She was a trailblazer not only for female journalists, but for all women.”
Bob Iger, the CEO of The Walt Disney Company, which owns ABC, said in a statement: “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.”
Walters, one of TV’s most prominent interviewers, shot to celebrity status on par with the royalty, politicians, and entertainment figures that she held interviews with during her roughly 50-year career.
She shot to prominence in 1976 as the first female TV network news anchor, having signed a contract with ABC to co-anchor “The Evening News.” In doing so, she also became the highest-paid TV journalist at the time with an unprecedented $1 million annual salary.
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