Amna: Much is known about the
storied career of legendary
journalist Barbara Walters, who
died over the weekend at the age
of 93.
But less is known about who she
was as a person and the high
cost her professional success
took on her personal life.
For a fuller picture of the
iconic broadcaster's life on
camera and off, we're joined by
Susan page, the author of an
upcoming biography of Walters.
Welcome back.
Good to see you.
You have been interviewing a
number of people sharing
accounts about Barbara Walters
and her life.
.
You have been reporting on this
for almost two years.
Talk about the earliest days of
her career.
There were not a lot of women in
the business.
How did she do it?
Susan: She did it by being the
hardest working, most persistent
person you can imagine.
She overcame impossible
obstacles, including the fact
that she did not speak very
well.
She had this odd speaking
pattern and yet she managed to
succeed in this business against
all odds.
Amna: Her big break came when
she was named cohost of NBC's
today show.
How did she land that job?
Susan: She was working on the
today show with the host who did
not like her, did not think of
her as a real journalist.
He went to the head of the
network and got a rule set that
when they were doing an
interview, he would ask the
first three questions, and only
then was she allowed to speak.
She lived by that, she then
started doing interviews outside
the studio in an effort to be
able to ask the first question.
Frank Mcgee unexpectedly died in
1974 of cancer.
He was in his 50's.
No one knew he was so ill.
NBC announced they would be
looking for a new host for the
today show.
Barbara Walters' agent called
and said, you mean cohost?
They had put in her last
contract a provision that said
if frank Mcgee leaves for any
reason, Barbara Walters will
become cohost.
Something the NBC executives
have not paid much attention to.
That is how she broke that first
barrier, the first woman to be a
cohost at a morning show.
Today, you can imagine a morning
hose that would not have a woman
on the air.
Amna: Was she competitive?
Susan: She was fiercely
competitive.
She had to be.
Men and women at that job, she
had to be especially so.
She was constantly working to
get the big interviews, one of
the things she made into an art.
When she was trying to interview
arc David Chapman, she wrote to
him in prison for 12 years for
he agreed to give his first TV
interview to her.
Amna: She was known for her
relentless work ethic.
That had to take a toll on her
relationships.
How did that impact professional
relationships and her personal
life?
Susan: We think of the accolades
she is getting is this wonderful
groundbreaker, cut a path for so
many women.
But it was not free.
Three marriages, three divorces,
she was estranged from her only
daughter but they eventually
reconciled.
Her work always came first.
Everyone around her understood
that.
Amna: Did she ever express
regret about that, or a wish
that she may have done things
differently?
Susan: She would talk about, did
I make a mistake.
But then she said, if I had not
done this, I would not have
gotten where I am.
I think she was not a woman
given too many regrets.
Amna: You have spoken to how
many people?
Susan: More than 100.
Amna: Did anything you have
heard a surprising?
Susan: A lot of it has.
One of it is how hard she has
worked.
Another is how -- she was very
competitive with women like
Diane sawyer, who she felt a
rivalry.
But to women like Connie Chung
and lynch year, they have told
me stories about how helpful she
was to them in their careers.
Amna: Over the course of that
career, 50 years working in this
industry, she moved across news
and entertainment, she innovated
a lot as well.
When you look at the industry,
where is her mark today, and
tell me about what happens to
her life after she left working
in television?
Susan: She spans the whole story
of the rise and the challenges
that network television has
faced.
She innovated the blending of
news and entertainment.
Not everybody thought that was a
good idea, but it is undeniable
that has happened.
She defined the big interview
get, including Monica Lewinsky,
an interview that got nearly 50
million people to watch her.
She was 67 years old at a time
almost everybody would be
retiring, she created the view,
a whole new form of TV talkshow.
One that 25 years later is still
going strong.
Amna: Was she ok being out of
the spotlight?
Susan: It was, hard for her to
retire it was hard for her to
step away.
She was in her 80's when she
retired.
She had a long time where her
health failed, where she was
increasingly isolated.
I'm sure it was hard for her to
not be on TV.
Amna: We have lost one of the
greats.
Can't wait to read many of those
stories in your biography of
her.
Thank you so much.