About
"If you're in the news business you do not give your personal opinions about major issues... The line between that seems to be blurred... I do think that we have to show some kind of objectivity and I'm not sure that it's happening."
Barbara Walters (1929-2022) credits her drive to her early years. "Because my father was in show business and because there were these ups and downs, I always felt that I had to work to take care of myself," she says about being the daughter of a prominent New York nightclub owner. In her interview, Walters elaborates on the discipline and work ethic that has defined her broadcast career. She looks back upon her earliest work as a producer of the show Ask the Camera, at WNBT in New York, and later, her move to WPIX in New York where she worked for The Morning Show. She discusses being hired at WNBT in New York as the sole female writer on the Today show, and recalls her occasional forays in front of the camera during location segments. She speaks about the impact of the coverage of President Kennedy's assassination on television, and the role she played in reporting the national tragedy. She talks at length about her preparation for interviews, and how involved she is in the process of not only writing and producing her segments but also in editing them. Walters discusses her much-publicized transition from NBC to ABC in the mid-1970s, and the controversy over her then-unparalleled $1-million contract. She explains her collaboration with Harry Reasoner on ABC's Evening News, and her much more fulfilling work later on 20/20, alongside long-time colleague Hugh Downs. She also talks about many of the interviews that she has conducted throughout her career, with such notables including Henry Kissinger, Richard Nixon, John Wayne, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, Fidel Castro, the Shah of Iran, Christopher Reeve, Monica Lewinsky, and John and Patty Ramsey. Finally, she describes her then-recent efforts on the ABC morning show The View. Don Carleton conducted the interview on May 23, 2000 in New York, NY.
Highlights
Barbara Walters on her approach to interviewing
Barbara Walters on her role on the Today show
Barbara Walters on women in television and what she tells women who want to follow in her footsteps
Barbara Walters on coming to terms with Gilda Radner's "Baba Wawa" impression
Barbara Walters on objectivity for journalists
Barbara Walters on how she secures interviews and some of the interviews she treasures
Full Interview
Chapter 1
On her early years; on her father Lou Walters, a nightclub owner; her family life and her early encounters with celebrities at her father's club
On wanting to be an actress when she grew up; her education; her first job in television
On her early television work, including her brief first appearance on-camera
On joining the Today show and moving up the ranks to a reporter
Chapter 2
On her first assignment overseas covering Jacqueline Kennedy's trip for the Today show
On how she prepares for her broadcasts and her interviews
On Hugh Downs joining the Today show; on Maureen O'Sullivan's short tenure on the Today show
On being promoted to a regular reporter on the Today show and how she eventually was given the title of co-host
On covering John F. Kennedy's funeral; on meeting Robert Kennedy
Chapter 3
On interviewing various personalities (Truman Capote, Luci Baines Johnson, Rose Kennedy, Grace Kelly)
On interviewing Lady Bird Johnson, Mamie Eisenhower, and the Nixon family, Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh, and Henry Kissinger
On traveling to China with President Nixon
On interviewing Fidel Castro, Golda Meir, Moshe Dayan, and Anwar Sadat
On moving from NBC to ABC and the criticism she faced; her take on Gilda Radner's "Baba Wawa" character
Chapter 4
On her historic joint interview with Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin
On securing interviews
On joining 20/20
On her interview with Monica Lewinsky
On the prevalence of media outlets
On The View
On journalism
On interviewing the Shah of Iran
On interviews she couldn't get and what she believes to be her greatest accomplishment
Shows
20/20
Barbara Walters on joining 20/20
ABC News
Barbara Walters on joining ABC news and the challenges she faced
Ask the Camera
Barbara Walters on producing the local New York WNBT show, Ask the Camera
Igor Cassini Show
Barbara Walters on working on the short-lived "Igor Cassini Show" on WNBT
Morning Show, The
Barbara Walters on working on CBS' The Morning Show with Will Rogers, Jr. (1956-1957) -- her first onscreen TV appearance
Today
Barbara Walters on covering first-lady Jacqueline Kennedy's overseas trip for the Today show
Barbara Walters on her rise to becoming co-host of the Today show
Barbara Walters on joining the Today show and her first assignments there as a writer, and later as a reporter
Barbara Walters on the live aspect of the Today show and the excitement of live television in general
Barbara Walters on working with host Dave Garroway on the Today show
Barbara Walters on her Today show colleagues: Frank Blair, Jack Lescoulie, Joe Garagiola, John Chancellor, Ed Newman, and Hugh Downs
View, The
Barbara Walters on how The View came about
Topics
Bill Clinton
Barbara Walters on interviewing Monica Lewinsky
Characters & Catchphrases
Barbara Walters on Gilda Radner's Saturday Night Live character "Baba Wawa"
JFK Assassination and Funeral
Barbara Walters on John F. Kennedy's assassination
Lyndon B. Johnson
Barbara Walters on informally meeting President Lyndon Johnson
Richard M. Nixon
Barbara Walters on covering Tricia Nixon's White House wedding
Barbara Walters on covering President Nixon's trip to China
Women
Barbara Walters on being denied the opportunity to travel overseas for reporting in her early career
Barbara Walters on being the first female network news anchor (she was co-anchor from 1976-1978 on ABC Evening News)
Barbara Walters on the rise of women in television and her advice to women on getting ahead
Barbara Walters on being able to "write for men" on the Today show
Professions
Anchor
Barbara Walters on being the first female network news anchor (she was co-anchor from 1976-1978 on ABC Evening News)
Barbara Walters on the rise of women in television and her advice to women on getting ahead
Journalists & News Producers
Barbara Walters on her approach to interviewing
Genres
News and Documentary
Barbara Walters on her approach to interviewing
Barbara Walters on the criticism she took for her record-breaking salary
People
Roone Arledge
Barbara Walters on Roone Arledge's hiring of Hugh Downs on 20/20
Barbara Walters on working with Roone Arledge
Fred Astaire
Barbara Walters on the difficulty of interviewing Fred Astaire
Menachem Begin
Barbara Walters on her joint interview with Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin
Truman Capote
Barbara Walters on interviewing Truman Capote
Igor Cassini
Barbara Walters on working on the short-lived "Igor Cassini Show" on WNBT
Fidel Castro
Barbara Walters on interviewing Fidel Castro
John Chancellor
Barbara Walters on John Chancellor's discomfort as a Today show host
Walter Cronkite
Barbara Walters on Walter Cronkite's involvement in securing interviews with Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin
Hugh Downs
Barbara Walters on working with Hugh Downs on the Today show
Barbara Walters on her 20/20 co-anchor Hugh Downs
Barbara Walters on Hugh Downs joining the Today show
Dave Garroway
Barbara Walters on Today show colleague Dave Garroway
Katharine Hepburn
Barbara Walters on interviewing Katharine Hepburn (the one and only time Walters asked the now-famous "what kind of tree" question)
Lyndon B. Johnson
Barbara Walters on informally meeting President Lyndon Johnson
Luci Baines Johnson
Barbara Walters on interviewing Luci Johnson
Lady Bird Johnson
Barbara Walters on interviewing former First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson
Will Rogers, Jr.
Barbara Walters on working on CBS' The Morning Show with Will Rogers, Jr. (1956-1957)
Grace Kelly
Barbara Walters on interviewing Grace Kelly
Robert F. Kennedy
Barbara Walters on Robert Kennedy
Rose Kennedy
Barbara Walters on interviewing Rose Kennedy
Jacqueline Kennedy
Barbara Walters on her first overseas reporting assignment, covering then-First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy on her trip to India and Pakistan
Henry Kissinger
Barbara Walters on interviewing Henry Kissinger
Monica Lewinsky
Barbara Walters on interviewing Monica Lewinsky
Frank McGee
Barbara Walters on working with Today show host Frank McGee
Golda Meir
Barbara Walters on Golda Meir and Moshe Dayan
Edwin Newman
Barbara Walters on Edwin Newman's role on the Today show
Richard M. Nixon
Barbara Walters on interviewing ex-President Richard Nixon
Barbara Walters on covering Tricia Nixon's wedding
Tricia Nixon
Barbara Walters on covering Tricia Nixon's wedding
Pat Nixon
Barbara Walters on covering Tricia Nixon's wedding
Maureen O'Sullivan
Barbara Walters on actress Maureen O'Sullivan's short-lived job on the Today show
Gilda Radner
Barbara Walters on Gilda Radner's Saturday Night Live character "Baba Wawa"
Harry Reasoner
Barbara Walters on working with Harry Reasoner on ABC News
Dean Rusk
Barbara Walters on U.S. Secretary of State (1961-1969) Dean Rusk
Anwar Sadat
Barbara Walters on her joint interview with Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin
Barbara Walters on Anwar Sadat
Shah of Iran (Reza Pahlevi)
Barbara Walters on interviewing the Shah of Iran
George Steinbrenner
Barbara Walters on meeting George Steinbrenner in Cuba
Lou Walters
Barbara Walters on the influence of her father, nightclub entrepreneur Lou Walters
John Wayne
Barbara Walters on receiving a telegram of support from John Wayne