Barbara Walters is a popular broadcast journalist in the United States. She is also an author and television personality. She is famous for her interviewing ability and popularity with viewers. Through the years, she appeared as the host of many different television programs, such as the ABC Evening News, Today, 20/20, and The View. She worked as a journalist from 1951 up to 2015.
She started her career in the early 1960s on The Today Show, where she worked as the women’s interest stories’ writer and segment producer. She became popular with viewers, which made her receive more airtime. She became a co-host of the program in 1974, and she’s the first woman to be a host on an American news program.
Barbara Walters continued to be a pioneer for women in broadcasting by becoming the very first female co-anchor of an evening news program, together with Harry Reasoner on the ABC Evening News. In addition to that, she also worked as a producer and co-host on the ABC newsmagazine 20/20 from 1979 to 2004. She became more popular due to her annual special show aired on ABC titled “Barbara Walters’ 10 Most Fascinating People,” which featured ten public figures who are prominent in entertainments, sports, politics, and pop culture.
She’s also the one who created, produced, and co-hosted the daytime talk show on ABC called “The View” in 1997. It is the show where she appeared until her retirement in 2014. After that, she still continued to host many special reports for 20/20, and as well as Investigation Discovery’s documentary series. With all of her success, she was inaugurated into the Television Hall of Fame in 1989. She was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000, which was from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Aside from that, she also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007.
Barbara Walter’s final appearance on-air was in 2015 for ABC News, and she last appeared publicly in 2016. With this, what do you think happened to Barbara Walters after her television career? Read on to find out.
What Happened to Barbara Walters?
Since Barbara Walters’ last appearance in 2016, there haven’t really been any rumblings of her returning to television on a permanent basis or guesting on certain shows. It seems that the 91-year-old journalist chose to live a more low-key life after decades of going to different countries and interviewing celebrities, world leaders, and other prominent people around the globe.
When you check her official Twitter account, it has not been active for quite a while. The last post was in 2017 when she retweeted a video of her during the time when she dressed up as a Playboy bunny back in the ‘60s. Even though it’s quite confirmed that she is retired for good, it’s hard to deny that she’s always a key player in her field.
Barbara Walters Had Some Health Scares
Many people are concerned with Barbara Walters due to her health issues over the years. Back in 2010, she said that she would be having open-heart surgery to replace a damaged aortic valve. Even though she was symptom-free, she was aware that she’s suffering from aortic valve stenosis.
In 2014, she revealed that she had a lumpectomy after discovering a lump in one of her breasts. Aside from that, she also had both of her ovaries removed because her sister died from ovarian cancer. But she never came out to say that she was diagnosed with breast or ovarian cancer. She just did what she saw was right to do over the years to stay healthy.
Barbara Walters is Highly-Respected in Show Business
Back in 2019, Rosie O’Donnell said to Us Weekly that she will always respect and love Barbara Walters. She also revealed that Barbara was not up to seeing people that much. On Barbara’s 90th birthday, Whoopi Goldberg paid tribute to her on The View.
However, in February 2020, Jenny McCarthy said to Us Weekly that Barbara Walters’ health was not great. But she said that Barbara is strong and will just keep going no matter what. There’s also a representative for Barbara who told the outlet that she is doing just fine. It just seems like Barbara Walters is enjoying her life out of the spotlight after spending so many years in the television industry. Who wouldn’t want that, right?
Conclusion
Barbara Walters is indeed one of the most popular people in the television industry, most especially in the world of news and journalism. She has truly inspired many people over the years, and even up until today, a lot of us are still looking up to her and her very successful career. At her age right now, she has every right to want to preserve her privacy where she can get it. But we hope this post helped you in learning about Barbara Walters.