American journalist and television legend Barbara Walters has died, aged 93, reports ABC News.
She made headlines when, in 1976, she became the first female anchor of the ABC News evening news.
During a career spanning five decades at NBC and later ABC, she received twelve Emmy Awards, including eleven during the more than three decades she was employed at ABC.
Walters’ last appearance was as co-anchor of ‘The View’ in 2014 but she has continued as a producer for the show, doing several interviews and also for ABC News.
Over the years he has interviewed big names like Fidel Castro and Vladimir Putin, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump.
Walters has earned a reputation for asking tough questions.
– I asked Vladimir Putin if he ever ordered the murder of anyone. He said no, she said.
After Castro’s death in 2016, Walters released a statement saying Castro had called the two interviews with him “heated debates.”
– On these occasions he made it clear to me that he was an absolute dictator and that he was firmly against democracy. I told him what we disagreed the most on was the meaning of freedom, he said.
In 1999, 74 million viewers watched as Walters interviewed Monica Lewinsky about her relationship with then-President Bill Clinton. Toward the end of the interview, Walters asked Lewinsky:
– What will you tell your children when you have them?
– Mom made a big mistake, Lewinsky answered.
Walters later commented:
– And this is the understatement of the year.
