The pioneering TV broadcaster Barbara Walters died Friday. She was 93. This has been confirmed by her representative, Cindi Berger, who said Walters died “peacefully in her home surrounded by loved ones.”
The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger released a statement: “Barbara was a true legend, a pioneer not just for women in journalism but for journalism itself. She was a one-of-a-kind reporter who landed many of the most important interviews of our time, from heads of state to the biggest celebrities and sports icons. I had the pleasure of calling Barbara a colleague for more than three decades, but more importantly, I was able to call her a dear friend. She will be missed by all of us at The Walt Disney Company, and we send our deepest condolences to her daughter, Jacqueline,” Iger said in a statement Friday.
Walt Disney Company is the parent company of ABC News.
Walters is known as the first female anchor of a network news program. In recent years, she is also known as the co-creator of the hit ABC daytime show “The View.”
In May 2013, she revealed that she’s retiring from journalism by the end of the 2014 season of The View. However, Walters continued to make some appearance on occasion the following year.
In 1989, Walters was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame after 25 years in television.