Barbara Walters Retiring In May 2014, After More Than 50 Years As Trailblazing Female National News Broadcaster
Barbara Walters, veteran ABC newscaster and household name, will retire from TV broadcasting after more than 50 years spent blazing a trail for women in the media industry, according to multiple reports on Thursday.
Walters, 83, has worked ABC since 1976, where she spent her time as a news anchor and later as a talk show host. She began her national broadcast career 52 years ago in 1961 as a reporter, writer and member of NBC's Today Show panel.
When reached by CNN about reports from the New York Times and Deadline.com which cited unnamed network sources, the longtime news woman answered with "no comment."
According to reports, ABC network heads plan for Walters to announce her retirement in May and allow the broadcast company - and her fans - to pay tribute to the broadcast giant up until her final days on the air in May of 2014.
Walters has spent the majority of her recent years as a co-host of the daytime talk show The View, a program which she helped create 15 years ago.
Walters underwent surgery three years ago in order to repair a heart valve and had another health scare in January after suffering a cut to her forehead from a fall while visiting the British ambassador's home in Washington D.C.
One of her many incredible achievements revolves around the fact that Walters has interviewed every United States commander-in-chief and first lady since Richard and Pat Nixon took office in 1969.
Beginning in 1984, Walters also spent 20 years as a correspondent for the ABC news magazine program 20/20, a show in which she still occasionally contributes.
The daughter of a Boston theater producer, Walters herself was married four times to three different men.
"I'm convinced that you stay married when the sex is bad, only because you really want to be," she told The New York Times in 1996. "But I always had an out. I had this job, and this life and enough money. I didn't have to fight the bad days."
