Walters, Barbara

Walters, Barbara
born Sept. 25, 1931, Boston, Mass., U.S.

U.S. television journalist.

After brief employment in an advertising agency, she became assistant to the publicity director for New York City's NBC-affiliated television station. She worked in television as a writer-producer (1952–58), interviewer (1964–74), and cohost (1974–76) of NBC's Today show, for which she won an Emmy Award in 1975. In 1976–78, for an unprecedented $1 million a year, she was coanchor of the ABC Evening News, the first woman to anchor a network newscast in the U.S. From 1976 she hosted the series of Barbara Walters Specials, interviewing celebrities and world leaders Her disarmingly direct questioning drew many subjects into frequently interesting and occasionally provocative moments of self-revelation. In 1982 and 1983 she received Emmy Awards for best interviewer. From 1984 she also cohosted ABC's 20/20 news magazine program.

* * *

▪ American journalist
born Sept. 25, 1931, Boston, Mass., U.S.

      American journalist known particularly for her highly effective technique in television interviews of world-renowned figures.

      Walters graduated in 1953 from Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, N.Y., and, after brief employment in an advertising agency, she became assistant to the publicity director for New York City's NBC-affiliated television station. There she gained experience in writing and producing for television. Soon she was hired as a news and public affairs producer and writer by the CBS television network. In 1961 she became a writer for the popular NBC morning show Today and did occasional on-air feature stories.

      Walters was hired in 1964 as the “Today Girl,” a job that had traditionally involved little more than being attractive, making small talk, and reading commercials. She soon expanded that narrow role, making a place for herself among the Today show's panel of commentators and newsreaders. Her intelligence and camera presence, together with the solid journalistic work she did on her feature stories, made her one of the most popular personalities on the program, and in 1974 she was named cohost of Today with Hugh Downs. The following year she won an Emmy for her work on the show.

      In 1976 Walters made headlines by signing a five-year contract with ABC that made her the first woman to coanchor an evening network news program and, with a salary of $1 million per year, the highest-paid journalist at that time. In 1978 she left the program. The following year she joined the ABC newsmagazine show 20/20 as correspondent, becoming cohost with Downs in 1984; she remained with the program until 2004.

      Walters was particularly known for her interviews with world notables. A tenacious pursuer of elusive figures in the news, she obtained exclusive interviews for her popular Barbara Walters Specials, which premiered in 1976. Her disarmingly direct questioning drew many subjects into frequently interesting and occasionally provocative moments of self-revelation. Walters described her effective interview style in How to Talk with Practically Anybody About Practically Anything (1970). In 1982 and 1983 she received Emmy Awards for best interviewer. She was named to the Hall of Fame of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 1990. In 1993 she introduced an annual program that featured her interviews with the top newsmakers of the year. Four years later she began cohosting the daytime talk show The View. In her autobiography, Audition (2008), so named because she felt she had to prove herself over and over again, Walters reflected on both her public and private life.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • WALTERS, BARBARA — (1931– ), U.S. broadcast journalist. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Walters received a B.A. in English from Sarah Lawrence College in New York in 1953. She began her career as a writer for local television stations on the   East Coast. In 1961… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Walters, Barbara — (n. 25 sep. 1931, Boston, Mass., EE.UU.). Periodista estadounidense de televisión. Después de un breve trabajo en una agencia de publicidad, fue asistente del director de publicidad de la estación televisiva afiliada a la NBC en Nueva York.… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Walters,Barbara — Wal·ters (wôl tərz), Barbara. Born 1931. American television newscaster and reporter. After working for the National Broadcasting Company (1963 1976), she joined the American Broadcasting Company (1976 1979) and became the first woman to anchor… …   Universalium

  • Barbara Walters — (* 25. September 1929 in Boston, Massachusetts, Vereinigte Staaten) ist eine US amerikanische Journalistin und Fernsehmoderatorin. Barbara Walters präsentierte fast 25 Jahre das Nachrichtenmagazin „20/20“ auf dem Fernsehsender …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Barbara — m. Lóg. Uno de los modos posibles del *silogismo, perteneciente a la primera figura. * * * Bárbara. □ V. rancho de Santa Bárbara. * * * Modo de silogismo válido de la primera figura. Ejemplo: Todos los humanos son mortales los persas son humanos… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Barbara Walters — Infobox journalist name = Barbara Walters caption = Barbara Walters, September 2007. Photo by Christopher Peterson. birthname = Barbara Walters birth date = birth date and age|1929|09|25 birth place = Brookline, Massachusetts, United States death …   Wikipedia

  • Barbara Walters — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Walters. Barbara Walters. Barbara Walters est une journaliste, animatrice de télévision et productrice née le 25 septembre 1929 à …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Barbara Gittings Award — Die GLAAD Media Awards sind erstmals 1990 verliehene Auszeichnungen der US amerikanische Organisation Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, die jährlich an US amerikanische Medien der Nachrichten und Unterhaltungsindustrie für faire,… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Barbara — /bahr breuh, beuhr euh/, n. a female given name: from a Greek word meaning foreign, exotic. * * * (as used in expressions) Barbara Millicent Roberts Barbara Saint Cartland Dame Mary Barbara Hamilton Santa Barbara Islands Hepworth Dame Jocelyn… …   Universalium

  • Barbara Walters — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda …   Wikipedia Español

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”