Barbara Walters Retiring, The legendary newscaster will leave TV journalism next summer.
For decades, Barbara Walters has inspired millions with her
groundbreaking interviews - but after 37 years with ABC News, the
newscaster announced on "The View" today that next summer, she will
retire from TV journalism. Until then, she will continue to anchor and
report for ABC News, appear on "The View," and anchor specials
throughout the year including a "20 Years of 10 Most Fascinating People"
special in December, an Oscars special, and a May career retrospective.
Walters will remain Executive Producer of "The View," the show she created in 1997.
"I am very happy with my decision and look forward to a wonderful and
special year ahead both on 'The View' and with ABC News," she said. "I
created 'The View' and am delighted it will last beyond my leaving it."
Walters began her career in 1961 at NBC's "Today Show," where she eventually became a co-host.
"No one was more surprised than I," she says of her on-air career. "I
wasn't beautiful, like many of the women on the program before me,
[and] I had trouble pronouncing my r's. I still do!"
Still, in
1976, Walters found a new home at ABC "Evening News," where she became
the first female anchor on an evening news program. Three years later,
she became a co-host of "20/20."
At ABC, her interviews were wide-ranging and her access to public
figures, unparalleled; Walters crossed the Bay of Pigs with Fidel
Castro, conducted the first joint interview with Egyptian President
Anwar Sadat and Israel's Prime Minister Menachem Begin. She also
developed a reputation for asking tough questions. In one instance, "I
asked Vladimir Putin if he ever ordered anyone to be killed," she
recalls. "For the record, he said no."
But there were lighter interviews too. Walters hosts a "Most
Fascinating People" special in December, which has afforded her the
opportunity to chat with stars from Angelina Jolie to Tom Cruise. She
has also interviewed every U.S. president and first lady from the Nixons
to the current administration. But perhaps one of her favorite
contribution to the network has been "The View."
"There's only one Barbara Walters," says ABC News President Ben
Sherwood. "And we look forward to making her final year on television as
remarkable, path-breaking and news-making as Barbara herself. Barbara
will always have a home at ABC News and we look forward to a year
befitting her brilliant career, filled with exclusive interviews, great
adventures and indelible memories."
Meanwhile, Walters, who has one daughter, Jacqueline, is looking
forward to taking a break - and seeing what the next generation of
journalists has to offer.
"I do not want to appear on another program or climb another
mountain," she says. "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."