Barbara Walters, one of the most famous women on American television, the first woman to present news in prime time and one of the most prominent interviewers on television, died on Friday at the age of 93 - ABC reported last night (Friday).

Walters, who created the popular women's talk show "The View" that aired on ABC in 1997, died at her home in New York, Robert Iger, CEO of ABC's parent company Walt Disney, said in a statement. The circumstances of her death were not disclosed. "Barbara was a true legend, a pioneer not only for women in journalism but for journalism itself," Iger wrote.

50 years of television broadcasting

In a broadcasting career that spanned five decades, Walters interviewed a series of world leaders, including Fidel Castro of Cuba, Margaret Thatcher of Britain, Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi, Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein, Russian presidents Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin, and every US president and first lady. b Since Richard and Pat Nixon.

"I never thought I'd have a life like this," Walters said in a 2004 interview with the Chicago Tribune.

"I've met everyone in the world. I've probably met more people, more heads of state, more important people, even almost any president, because they only have eight years."

She also asked difficult questions

"I asked Yeltsin if he drank too much, and I asked Putin if he killed anybody," Walters told the New York Times in 2013.

Both, by the way, answered in the negative.

Walters with Yasser Arafat,

Celebrity interviews were also an important part of Walters' repertoire, and for 29 years she hosted a pre-Oscar interview show with Academy Award nominees.

She also had an annual Most Fascinating People show, but she left it when she decided she was tired of interviewing celebrities.

Succeeded despite the speech impediment

Walters reached the top of her field despite her difficulty pronouncing R's - a trait that made her a target for imitation on the sketch comedy show "Saturday Night Live" in the 1970s.

Walters said the stroke bothered her, until her daughter told her to "relax."

Walters was born in Boston.

Her father, Lou Walters, worked in show business as a nightclub owner and talent scout, who discovered comedian Fred Allen and actor Jack Haley, the Tin Man in the classic "The Wizard of Oz," among others.

After graduating from Sarah Lawrence College, she worked in public relations before joining NBC's "Today" show as a writer and segment producer in 1961. She began getting airtime with feature stories — such as reporting on her one-day role as Playboy Bunny — and became a regular on the show, But she encountered resistance: the host of the "Today" show Frank McGee resented her presence and tried to limit her role in the show.

Walters at the start of her career on the "Today" show,

After 13 years at "Today," Walters received an unprecedented $1 million annual salary to move to rival ABC in 1976 and make history as the first woman to anchor an evening newscast in the United States.

But the host next to her, Harry Reasoner, emphasized his disdain for Walters - even when they were on the air.

"I was really pretty brutal on the show and it wasn't nice," Walters told the San Francisco Examiner.

"For a long time I couldn't talk about that period without tears in my eyes. It was so terrible to go into this studio every day and no one would talk to me."

"ABC Evening News" ended in 1978, and Walters anchored the network's primetime newsmagazine show "20/20" and remained with the program for 25 years.

Walters' interview on "20/20".

In 1977 she obtained a joint interview with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin before they made peace.

Walters with former US President Barack Obama

However, Walters the star sometimes overshadowed her interviewees.

The New York Times called her "probably the best-known television personality in America", but also noted that "what we remember most about an interview with Barbara Walters is Barbara Walters".

In 1997, Walters launched "The View" on ABC, a popular women's talk show that was at times riven by disputes with its hosts, Starr Jones and Rosie O'Donnell.

She finally appeared as co-host of the show in 2014, but remained an executive producer of the show and continued to do occasional interviews and specials for ABC News.

She was married three times: to the businessman Robert Katz, to the theater producer Lee Gober and to the television director Merav Adelson - and they all ended in divorce.

She also had high-profile friends like Alan Greenspan, former head of the Federal Reserve, and John Warner, who would later become a senator from Virginia.

Her love life made headlines in 2008 when her autobiography, "Audition: A Memoir," revealed an affair with then-married Massachusetts Edward Brock, the first black senator since the post-Civil War Reconstruction.

Walters underwent heart surgery in 2010, which provided material for an ABC special in which she and former President Bill Clinton, actor Robin Williams and other high-profile heart surgery patients discussed their condition.

She has won 12 Emmy Awards, 11 of them while at ABC News, the network said.

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