SAG-AFTRA Statement on the Death of TV Broadcaster Barbara Walters

SAG-AFTRA celebrates the life and legacy of legendary broadcast journalist and television personality Barbara Walters, who died at age 93 today.

Joining NBC’s Today Show in 1974, she was the first woman to become a co-host on a network television news program. Walters would go on to become co-anchor of the ABC Evening News from 1976–1978 and serve as a correspondent for the program up until 2010. Walters was also part of ABC’s weekly television newsmagazine program, 20/20, which she joined in 1979 and co-hosted from 1984–2004. She was also well known for her broadcast of Barbara Walters' 10 Most Fascinating People, an annual list of the world’s most influential and interesting people in a wide variety of fields. Walters is perhaps best known for creating one of the longest-running daytime television shows in history, The View, which she co-hosted from 1997 to 2014.

SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said of Walters, "A pioneer in her field, she had the uncanny ability to make even the most challenging of issues easy to understand. As the first woman to ever co-host a network news program, she was a hero to many, and she paved the way for generations of broadcasters. A fixture on the news for decades, she helped keep millions informed about issues facing our world. She never shied away from asking tough questions of some of the world’s most interesting and controversial people.

"To be the first woman at anything speaks volumes to the strength and character of that woman, but to be the first woman in network news suggests a woman of intellect, tenacity and a fearless ability to uncover, confront and illuminate; in short, the one and only Barbara Walters. She blazed a trail for many other women to follow, who can pursue the possible because Barbara Walters did it first!"

Walters joined AFTRA in 1954 and SAG in 1991.

About SAG-AFTRA

SAG-AFTRA represents approximately 160,000 actors, announcers, broadcast journalists, dancers, DJs, news writers, news editors, program hosts, puppeteers, recording artists, singers, stunt performers, voiceover artists and other entertainment and media professionals. SAG-AFTRA members are the faces and voices that entertain and inform America and the world. A proud affiliate of the AFL-CIO, SAG-AFTRA has national offices in Los Angeles and New York and local offices nationwide representing members working together to secure the strongest protections for entertainment and media artists into the 21st century and beyond. Visit SAG-AFTRA online at SAGAFTRA.org.