Barbara Walter death: Pioneering TV interviewer dies, aged 93

Barbara Walters, has died, aged 93.

Walters, a prolific celebrity interviewer, was considered one of the first high-profile stars of television news.

Her cause of death is yet to be announced. It is also unknown where she died.

Walters broke into the industry as a writer on NBC’s Today show in 1961.

In 1974, she became the show’s first female co-host in 1974, and won her first Emmy award the following year for Outstanding Talk Show Host.

Walters made headlines in 1976 as the first female network news anchor, with an unprecedented $1m annual salary.

During more than three decades at ABC, and before that at NBC, Walters’ exclusive interviews with the famous and powerful brought her celebrity status that ranked with theirs.

Her drive was legendary as she competed for each big “get” in a world jammed with more and more rivals, including female journalists who had followed on the trail that she blazed.

As a highly successful side venture, she created and appeared on a daytime ABC talk show, The View.

In May 2014, she taped her final appearance on The View to mark the end of her career on television, but she hosted occasional specials after that.

Bob Iger, who is chief executive of ABC’s corporate parent, the Walt Disney Co, said on Twitter: “She will be missed by all of us at The Walt Disney Company, and we send our deepest condolences to her daughter, Jacqueline.”

Additional reporting by Agencies