Barbara Walters, the first woman to co-anchor a U.S. evening news program, will announce her retirement on “The View” on Monday, ABC network said.
Walters, got her start in television journalism in 1961 as a writer on NBC’s “Today.” In 1976, she became the first woman to co-anchor a television evening news broadcast on any U.S. network for “ABC Evening News.” In an impressive career Walters also worked as a producer and host of the ABC news magazine “20/20” and as a correspondent for ABC News.
In a blog posting on Sunday, ABC said Walters, 83, would announce on “The View,” the all-women talk show she created in 1997, that she would retire from television journalism next summer.
“Until then, she will continue to anchor and report for ABC News, appear on ‘The View,’ and anchor specials throughout the year,” the blog stated,. Walters will remain an executive producer of the show.
“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,” the blog quoted Walters as saying. “I created ‘The View’ and am delighted it will last beyond my leaving it.”
ABC sources said in March that Walters planned to retire in May 2014.
Walters has had some health issue in recent years. She had open heart surgery in 2010 and had fainted, hit her head and suffered a concussion in January. Walter’s was also diagnosed with chicken pox, causing her to miss more than a month of work.
Walter’s is known as one of the top interviewers on American network television, and has counted an array of world leaders including Cuba’s Fidel Castro, Britain’s Margaret Thatcher, Saddam Hussein of Iraq and every U.S. president since Richard Nixon in her impressive list of exclusives.
A pioneer, Walter’s departure will leave a void on The View, the show she created. Barbara Walters has been a role model and much respected presence on TV throughout the decades since she began her distinguished career. Mornings on television may never be the same again. We will miss you Barbara!
