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CREW MEMBER:
Take 5. We're recording.

- [clears throat]
I'm not ready.

[laughter]

CREW MEMBER:
Wait a minute.

Stand by, please.
Shh. Quiet.

BARBARA:
When I'm on camera...

Okay?
PERSON: Everybody got roll?

- Which way do you want me
to look--in you or in you?

I am fully confident.

I don't want to have to stop
in the middle of a sentence.

And I have a kind
of courage...

that I may not have
in real life.

- What do I call you
during this interview?

- Barbara.
- Barbara? Is that all right?

- I hope so.

[dramatic music]

PERSON 1:
Both sets, be quiet, please.

PERSON 2:
Barbara, we are rolling.

BARBARA:
Have speed?

Is everybody in position?

We all ready?

Are you ready
to be interrogated?

- She asked the question
that nobody else had asked.

- Are you sorry
you didn't burn the tapes?

Why didn't you have
your nose fixed?

Are you bisexual?

Did you ever order
anyone killed?

- And asked it in a way
that always hit a nerve.

- Why the tears now, Oprah?

CYNTHIA: Sitting down
with Barbara Walters,

no one ever got out
totally unscathed.

BARBARA:
Okay.

KATIE:
She could talk to anyone...

- Will you ever shave off
that beard?

- [chuckles]

- About anything.

- You don't really act.

You don't sing.
You don't dance.

You don't have any...

KIM: Talent.
- Forgive me--any talent.

- You know, you're surrounded
by beautiful flowers.

The lighting is perfect.

There's maybe a gauze
on the lens.

And then suddenly
she would just throw

a hardball out of nowhere.

- Martha, why do
so many people hate you?

- Each and every one of us
has people that love us

and people that hate us.

- No, not everybody has
people who hate them.

Anything you regret?

Is it ego,
or is it insecurity?

KATIE: Barbara
sometimes asked questions

that revealed a lot
about herself.

- Is there a conflict
between the working women

and the children?

Do you feel like a flop?
Do you feel like a failure?

BETTE:
She was fearless.

And sometimes she got
under people's skin.

- Ever do drugs
in front of your child?

- My God.
What a question.

BARBARA: You never say,
"I made mistakes."

You haven't said it.
- Barbara, I make mistakes.

I make mistakes.
Everybody makes mistakes.

- I mean, people don't think
you show any humility.

I'm not always a pussycat.

I'm sure there are times
when I'm cold.

I'm sure there are times
when I'm hostile.

No.

Please, do not interrupt me.

I don't care if I'm shiny.

I care more
about this interview.

OPRAH: Barbara knew
what she was up against.

- This studio is full
of delicacies this morning,

and here's one of them.

Her name is Barbara.
- Aw, that's so nice.

BOB: Whether it was her
looks or her voice,

just the fact
that she was a woman,

there were people who just
didn't believe in her.

And she loved
proving them wrong.

♪ ♪

- Nothing would stand
in her way.

- Okay, let's go.

Let me know
when you're all ready.

Don't cut again
unless you must.

HOST: Right now,
ladies and gentlemen,

let me introduce to you
one of America's

top news correspondents,
whose provocative interviews

have riveted
television viewers.

Would you welcome
Barbara Walters.

[applause]

[indistinct chatter]

[steady music]

♪ ♪

- Ten seconds.

- Stand by, videotape.

- We forced our staff writer
Barbara Walters to go to Paris

to cover the fashion openings.

BARBARA: When I first came
to work in the Today show,

I was hired to write
the women's features.

Every day I had to go and look
at fashion shows.

HOST: Mm.
- And then I had to have lunch

at Maxime's
and drink champagne.

HOST: Huh.
- And then I had to smell

all the perfume at Dior.

I mean, it was so trying

that I took absolutely
the very last plane I could

to get back here today.

HOST:
Well, we welcome you back.

BARBARA: I was not
what they were putting

in front of the cameras.

They were looking
for models, actresses,

and it was
a male-dominated shop.

- Hey!
[laughter]

- Barbara, are you set to go?

BARBARA:
It never occurred to me

that I would be
in front of the camera.

I am certainly no baby.

I wasn't beautiful,
and I didn't pronounce my Rs.

And raincoats.

But they needed someone
they could hire cheap.

I worked cheap.

This is my diploma.

It proves that I did
indeed go to bunny school.

I became the Today reporter.

I went off and did stories.

Here they are--graduate
bunnies at the Playboy Club

at the end
of a hard day's work.

KATIE:
Barbara did all the soft,

fluffy stories--
the women's stories.

BARBARA:
Standard equipment

is the bunny cottontail.

KATIE: But she wanted
to be taken seriously.

She wanted to be appreciated
for her intelligence.

And so she fought really hard

to do some of the more serious
interviews.

- Suppose that,
for one reason or another,

you could no longer
take the pill

and had to go back to another
contraceptive device.

And when I went on the air,
the big thing for me was,

I could write
my own questions.

And when we began to do
film reports, I could edit.

I'm a good editor.
That's what I do best.

Those were
the qualities I had--

not my looks or my great
personality, I don't think.

But I could do those things.
No woman had done them.

There is another side
to the royal family,

a side I saw firsthand--

the human, the vulnerable,
the imperfect side.

CYNTHIA: Barbara was
a real fixture in our home.

We watched the Today show.

She entered
the television-news business

at a time--

to say women didn't have
a seat at the table--

women weren't even in the room
where the table was.

- I'm Frank McGee.

Joe Garagiola has the day off.

Barbara Walters is here.

BARBARA:
When Hugh Downs, the host

of the Today show,
left the program...

- Welcome
to the Today program.

BARBARA: A newsman
named Frank McGee came in.

The hard news interviews,

he wanted to do them
by himself.

This girl sitting next to me
shouldn't be able to do them.

And he went to the president
of the network and said,

"Barbara should not be allowed
to come in on this interview

until I have asked
three questions."

Well, today I would have quit.

I didn't say, "How dare you?"

There was no place
to go and complain.

You swallowed, and you
worked it out yourself.

- So she figured out
a way around that

by doing interviews
outside of the studio.

I mean, really, the reason

that she started
doing interviews

and ultimately became
famous for them,

it was a workaround.

BARBARA: So pushy cookie did
all of those interviews

outside of the studio.

Your Highness,
I must ask you the question

that most Americans want
to know about you.

Are you happy?

- I've had many happy moments
in my life, yes.

I don't think happiness--being
happy is a perpetual state.

- Are you ever bored?
And if so, what bores you?

Or do you always have
this nourishing curiosity?

- No.
I'm terribly curious.

I mean, it's very hard
for me to get bored,

because, mm...

because even when somebody
is being actively boring,

I'm interested in
how they are boring me.

BARBARA: Do you think
it's possible to be an actress

and be happily married?

- Well, I don't think anybody
who married me thought so.

[chuckles]

KATIE:
Barbara was proving to be

a very integral part
of the Today show.

HOST: You say you brought
the ratings up.

Do you have any idea why?

BARBARA:
I think I was myself.

People felt that they knew me.
I was very accessible.

And I guess...

in television terms,
I was smart.

This is a sad day for us,

a sad time
for the Today program.

Frank McGee died yesterday
at the age of 52.

It was in my contract

that if Frank ever left,
I would be cohost.

Nobody expected him to leave.

He died of cancer.

- She got it literally over
Frank McGee's dead body.

[soft music]

Do you know what happened
in Today show history

on April 22, 1974?

Well, it's early, so we'll
give you a little break.

It's the date that
Barbara Walters

became the first female
cohost of the Today show.

She often told me,
"Oh, we're so alike.

Neither of us
is that attractive."

[laughing]
I was like, "Thanks."

But I think what she meant is,

our looks were secondary.

- Growing up watching
Barbara Walters,

having Barbara Walters
in my head

as I am doing my first
audition for television--

I mean, she was
a mentor for me

before she knew
that she was a mentor.

I remembered seeing you
on the Today show.

And you always used
to do this.

And I remember you looking up
and looking down--

- I was looking at questions.
- Yeah.

And so what I did was I'd look
down, and then I'd look up,

and I'd talk,
and then I'd look down.

Whew!

And for the longest time,

I'd watch you every morning,

and I'd go on the air,
and I'd imitate you.

KATIE:
Barbara was tenacious,

and she was ambitious,

which was a dirty word
for women.

BARBARA: Until the casket
of President Kennedy

leaves the rotunda.

KATIE: She started as the only
female staff writer...

BARBARA: Dr. Kissinger, how
would you describe your job?

Talking about
the Watergate break-in.

KATIE: And ultimately became
a household name.

- I've been working
in television

for almost 20 years now,

11 of those years
in front of the cameras.

And I've seen how things
have changed for women

and how they haven't changed.

CREW MEMBER:
Okay.

Stand by, please.

Clear, please. Okay.

- Listen, tell me
about this marriage of yours,

this man whom nobody
ever seems to see.

We heard that he was here.

We heard that he was in town,
but none of us have seen him.

You know, you can give
all kinds of reasons

why marriages don't work.

I went from my parents' house
to my first marriage.

I was 23, you know?

And it was a marriage
that never should have been.

Marriage number two was to
a lovely man named Lee Guber.

Does he share your career?

DOLLY:
Well, he--he shares it

to the point that
he knows it makes me happy

and he's proud of me.

CREW MEMBER:
Stand by.

DOLLY:
Oh.

I was in my 30s
when Jackie was born.

My daughter's a blessing.

My world came together.

I mean, I was already
on the Today show,

and I'd had
three miscarriages.

And now I had everything.

Today people
are more accepting.

You can bring your kid
to the office.

In those days,

if I had brought Jackie
into the studio,

it would be
as if I had brought

a dog who was not housebroken.

KATIE: This idea
of a working mother

seemed like an oxymoron.

People didn't think
you could take care of a child

or take care of a husband
and have a full-time job.

BARBARA: I took two days off,
and that was it.

HOST:
We're right in the middle

of a fascinating time
in your family life.

Your daughter's--

- Yes, it's her first day
of school this week.

She's fine.

We're scared to death,
you know.

She'll drink her juice and eat
her cookies, and we'll cry.

You know, I can see
she's gonna leave us,

and she'll say, "Don't be
nervous, Mommy and Daddy.

Now don't cry," you know.

"I'll be all right."

- Do you stay for long?
No, you just--

- The first time?
- Yes.

- Do you really care
about this?

- I'm fascinated, yes.
[laughter]

BARBARA: Lee was working
mostly nights.

He was in show business.

I was working
in the early morning.

We didn't see that much
of each other.

Little by little, we--

we just had less and less
to say to each other.

This was
the storybook love affair,

and we wanted it to last

and knew how hard
you worked at it

and then felt really great
disappointment that it didn't.

- You have to accept
inevitability.

It was just the time

for that point in our lives
to close.

BARBARA: That was
very difficult for me,

because by that time,
we had a four-year-old child.

I don't think that I was
very good at marriage.

It may be that my career
was just too important.

It may have been
that I was a difficult person

to be married to

and I wasn't willing,
perhaps, to give that much.

You know, there are
those people who say

that a woman has to be
twice as aggressive.

She has to be twice
as hardworking

to hold the same
executive position as a man.

But through it all,

there was this career
that I felt I needed to have.

And I loved it.

[dynamic music]

♪ ♪

- Good evening.
I'm Roger Grimsby.

Here now the news.

- Evening news,
that was journalism.

Morning news, mm.

But the evening-news anchor
was the face of the network.

This is where the guys played.

You know,
this was all about status.

CREW MEMBER:
15.

CONNIE: The person
who dominated evening news

was Walter Cronkite,
who worked at CBS.

He was avuncular, as they say.

He was credible.
He was honest.

He was Uncle Walter.

So the evening news was
the crème de la crème.

CYNTHIA: It was a big deal
when Barbara left

the official co-host
of the Today show

and she goes to ABC

as the co-anchor
with Harry Reasoner

of the evening news.

This was the big time.

PERSON:
Ladies and gentlemen,

if we can get started, please.

OPRAH:
It was such a big victory.

I think, at the time,
she got a million dollars.

And we were all like,

Barbara Walters
is getting a million dollars!

And as a young anchorwoman
who was making $22,000,

that was hope for me
that if she can get a million,

maybe I can get $50,000
one day.

BARBARA:
5 years, $5 million.

I don't feel that I'm coming
here to save the news.

I'm coming here
to add to the strength

that Harry has already brought
to this program.

- [imitating Barbara]
I want to take this opportunity

to apologize to NBC.

I don't like leaving.

Please trust me,
it's not sour grapes,

but rather
that another network

recognizes in me
a great talent

for delivering
relevant news stories

with crystal clarity
to millions of Americans.

BARBARA: When I left NBC,
the papers were awful to me.

I became
the Million Dollar Baby.

- It just reverberated
all over the country.

It was at a time when
the women's movement

was really gaining steam.

And suddenly we had a woman

who was going to be delivering
the news every single night.

- Her contract, for a rumored
million dollars a year,

specifies that she'll co-anchor

the ABC Evening News.

- So the struggle
has been to keep the packaging

from dominating
the contents of the package.

But now a network has hired
a lady to read the news,

plus other studio chores,
for $1 million a year.

And the intramural worry is

that maybe
the struggle has been lost.

- I don't feel I have
to rationalize it.

I was offered that money
by both ABC and NBC.

I can't imagine anyone
turning it down.

VICTOR:
There was all this excitement.

A star's coming to ABC.

There was a pink typewriter
that was delivered.

- It's just one piece
of copy, Mary?

MARY: Sorry?
- One piece of copy?

MARY: That's all.
- Okay.

VICTOR: And people would say,
"Harry, what do you think?

"Let's go look at the new set.

They're building a set
for the both of you."

And he kind of grumbled, like,
oh, well, whatever, you know?

Like that kind of thing.

- Ready, three?
- One.

- Take three.
Cue Barbara.

- Well, tonight
has finally come for me,

and I'm very pleased to be
with you, Harry,

and with ABC News.

Here was my chance--
historic, they told me--

to be the first
female co-anchor

of a network news program.

Well, I thought,
what an opportunity.

It was a mistake.

CYNTHIA:
Harry Reasoner made no bones

about the fact that
he did not want her there.

He didn't want any co-anchor,

and he certainly
didn't want her.

- The decision was
to welcome you as I would

any respected and competent
colleague of any sex

by noting that I've kept time
on your stories

and mine tonight.

You owe me four minutes.
- [laughs]

- I think most people had
this attitude of,

who does she think she is?

We're not getting our news
from some lady, some chick.

- From five seconds down?
CREW MEMBER: Right. Ten...

- I'd rather have
ten seconds down.

KATIE: It gave rise
to so much sexism

that made it
even harder for her.

BILLIE EILISH:
♪ So you're a tough guy ♪

♪ "Like it really rough"
guy ♪

♪ "Just can't get enough"
guy ♪

♪ "Chest always so puffed"
guy ♪

♪ I'm that bad type,
"make your mama sad" type ♪

♪ "Make your girlfriend mad"
type ♪

- Here at 9:30 Eastern time.

BILLIE EILISH:
♪ I'm the bad guy ♪

Duh.

♪ ♪

- In 1976, I was
a production assistant at ABC.

- Thank you very much,
Barbara.

Good night.

BOB: There was
absolutely no chemistry,

either on air or on set.

Everybody was aware of that,

and we all felt kind of
uncomfortable about it.

- I have to shoot an arrow
into Barbara Walters.

- Ah, You mean you're
making her fall in love

with Harry Reasoner?
- No.

Harry just paid me
to shoot her.

- Just didn't care.
- Straightaway.

- It's nice to see you.

- Can we also, by the way,
one of these days,

have all the same pictures
and everything?

- Oh, no.

BARBARA: I would walk
into that studio,

and Harry would be sitting
with the stagehands,

and they'd all crack jokes
and ignore me.

And no one would talk to me.

There was not a woman
on the staff.

Good evening.

VICTOR:
It was awkward.

The show began.
They did their small talk.

HARRY: From Barbara and me,
good night.

VICTOR:
It ended.

No one said anything to her.

She got up,
and I escorted her back.

This memory was like yesterday.

We're walking back.

Her head was down,

and her fists were clenched
by her side, looking down.

Fists so tight, I felt it
walking next to her.

And she was hurt.

BARBARA: I thought it was the
end of my professional career

after all these years
of working.

It was the most painful period
in my life.

- ABC announced today
that Roone Arledge,

who is now president
of ABC Sports,

will head a newly formed
news and sports division,

effective June 1st.

VICTOR: Roone Arledge was
the president of ABC Sports,

and he created that great

"sports as entertainment"
concept--

Wide World of Sports,

multiple cameras
and video replays,

stop action in the Olympics.

So he was brought to ABC News
to change ABC News,

to bring it
into kind of a modern,

more entertaining era.

BARBARA:
Roone Arledge was my savior.

He had the vision to say,

"we can do something
with her,"

and made me a roving reporter.

And he gave me free rein
and said, "Go.

Go get them.
Go get those interviews."

Roone bet on me.
It was a big gamble.

REPORTER 1: No Arab leader
has publicly visited Israel

since the Jewish state
was founded in 1948,

a period during which Israel
and the Arabs

have fought
four major conflicts.

REPORTER 2:
But now all obstacles

appear to have been removed

for peace discussions
in Jerusalem

between
Egyptian President Sadat

and Israeli Prime Minister
Begin.

- If President Sadat wants
an official formal invitation

from me, he has it.

BARBARA:
Everybody said, "what?

An Egyptian president
going to Israel?"

And so all hell broke loose.

This is Barbara Walters
in Israel,

where the country is racing

through last-minute
preparations

for the arrival
tomorrow evening

of Egyptian President
Anwar Sadat.

I arrived in Tel Aviv,

got a call
from Roone Arledge saying,

"Walter Cronkite is in Cairo.

John Chancellor is on his way.
Get there."

We rented a plane.

I was so exhausted,
I fell asleep...

woke up, looked down,
I thought it was a mirage--

I saw the pyramids.

And when I got off...

waiting there
were John Chancellor

and Walter Cronkite.

And they were not very happy
to see me.

CONNIE:
All of a sudden,

Barbara shows up
on the tarmac,

as Walter describes it,

as if she's a substitute
for a game, going...

And Anwar Sadat sees Barbara
and goes, "Barbara!"

- You okay, Barbara?
- Yes, I am.

- You will be joining me.
- Hi, how are you?

- Walter. Walter.
- Good to see you.

How are you?

And good luck.

- How do you find it
with Barbara?

[laughter]

- I hadn't planned it
that way.

[indistinct chatter, applause]

- Mr. President,
Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan

and Prime Minister Begin

have said
that they are willing

to talk the principles
of peace with you.

They are willing to talk
specifics and substance.

Are you willing to do this?

- Sure. For sure,
I am willing to do this.

If they are ready, I am ready.

- Go ahead, Barbara.
- Thank you, Barbara.

BARBARA: On the plane
from Egypt to Israel,

I asked Anwar Sadat--
slipped him a note

and asked if he would sit
and do an interview with me.

Yes, no, alone,
or with Prime Minister Begin.

And he said yes, but alone.

PETER:
On that plane also will be

my co-commentator
and distinguished lady

who went to Egypt today
from Israel, Barbara Walters.

And there is Barbara
coming down the stairs--

Barbara Walters.

VICTOR:
She turned out to be,

in the best possible
definition of the word,

a killer.

BARBARA:
Okay, we are ready.

BARBARA: I went to Jerusalem
and did an interview

with Prime Minister Begin
that night.

We have to do this,
very quickly, okay.

Do not answer me.

I'm just going to repeat
my questions.

[laughter]
I'll look at you.

- I don't know
how I ever manage

to get through these
interviews with you.

He said, "Barbara,
I forgot to tell you.

"I said to Anwar Sadat,

"for the sake
of our friend Barbara,

"would you do
an interview together?

And, Barbara, he said yes."

I said, "Mr. Prime Minister,

you're the best agent
I've ever had."

- Both leaders
sat down together

with ABC's Barbara Walters
for an exclusive interview.

And it was a fascinating,
in my judgment, look

at history being made
in front of us.

- President Sadat,
you said that your people,

the Arab people,
would not concede one inch

of occupied land.

Is that negotiable?

- Not at all.
BARBARA: Not at all.

- Yes, frankly, not at all,

but it doesn't mean at all
that we should not try.

BARBARA: So there might be
a ray of light.

There might be
a somewhat different position

down the road.

- [laughs]

You are always like this,
Barbara.

[laughter]

- I try to be.
- On everything.

Well--

- This is what people are
going to be asking of you.

- Politics can't be conducted
like this, like--

- I have to keep trying.

KATIE:
It was history making,

but it also showed
Walter Cronkite

and John Chancellor
who was boss.

She totally edged them out,

which must have been
so sweet for her.

WALTER: But if I could just
press you one more moment...

KATIE: Walter Cronkite later
interviewed the two of them.

But, honestly, if you're not
first, you're not anything.

VICTOR:
And then...

the real Barbara Walters
career began.

CREW MEMBER:
All right, everybody, quiet.

Take 201.

NARRATOR:
The Barbara Walters Special.

- Good evening.
I'm Barbara Walters.

The million-dollar contract

was not just
for me to do the news,

but for me to do a series of
one-hour prime-time specials.

You're not embarrassed. I am.
JIMMY: I'm not.

- Well, then, okay,
if you're not, I'll go on.

Do you sleep in a double bed
or twin bed?

- Double bed.
- Double bed.

When I was growing up
in St. Louis,

I was obsessed with TV.

And Barbara Walters,
to me, just always represented

event television.

- If you were a man,
you would not marry

a woman with a career.
- No.

I wouldn't be that big a fool.

- This was a day
when big stars--

you didn't get to see them
being interviewed anywhere.

- Stick around
for a while longer, will you?

- I sure want to.

BARBARA: I was criticized
for doing specials

that had people in the news

along with celebrities.

You can't do both.

Well, you can, and I did.

And today we see it
all the time.

You are a man
of secrecy and mystery.

Are you married?

- [speaking Spanish]
- [speaking Spanish]

- In a personal conversation
between us two,

we can talk about that,
but why do we have to talk

about this
for the large public?

- You don't have to talk
about it.

But there are people who
are very curious about you.

And it is interesting
that a simple question like,

are you married,
not very complicated,

causes such an uproar.

- [speaking Spanish]
- Formally, no.

CYNTHIA: Interviews
were always a staple, right?

But interviews tended
to be about issues.

This was a profile
of the person.

- I know you don't like
personal questions.

- Uh-huh.

- So I will start by asking you
something very simple

and easy for you to answer.
- Okay.

- Will you tell me all about
your first sexual experience?

- My first sexual experi--
[laughter]

ANDY: Have all of her clips
aged great?

No, but at the time,

she was very representative

of where the line was
in the culture,

and she knew how to dance
just on the line.

- Sure.

BARBARA: What's it like to be
a homosexual?

Are you happy
with your weight?

Do you drink too much?

- And I wanted to know,
by the way.

- This is only a small mansion
on the hill, Barbara.

KATIE: Barbara did Cribs
before Cribs was Cribs.

- This is where I sleep.
- Yes.

- This is where I'm going
to make my children.

- We have 85,000 feet
of home movies.

- She went
into people's new homes.

She went
into people's closets.

She went
into people's kitchens.

- Oh, God,
that's enough, Barbara.

KATIE: I remember
she sat on the floor

with Eddie Murphy
when she profiled him.

- [laughs]

KATIE: At the time, it was
a very different approach.

It wasn't a chair
across from a chair.

- I don't want to hurt
your feelings,

but this is the scroungiest
Jeep I have ever--

The upholstery is coming out.

CYNTHIA:
In the beginning,

it was very controversial
to put hard-news interviews...

- It's been eight months since
that assassination attempt.

CYNTHIA:
Next to celebrity interviews.

And there were many who felt

that she was just
lowering standards.

- Do you believe in fidelity
when you're married?

- What's fidelity?
- Staying with one woman only.

Nobody's listening.
- [laughs]

BOB:
She had a vision back then

that celebrities are news.

She was criticized
in that regard,

because she actually believed,

and I think she turned out
to be right,

that they were news makers...

CREW MEMBER:
And action.

BOB:
She was practicing

the art of journalism when
she was interviewing them.

- Are we doing this for real?

- Yeah. Yeah.
- Oh. [chuckles]

BARBARA:
Okay.

- She asked me
to be a guest on her show.

And, of course,
I was very flattered,

because it was a big deal.

And I had a lot of fun with
her when she interviewed me.

I can be so boring.

- Not now, please.
- No.

- The next interview.

BETTE: It wasn't as stiff
as it usually was.

It was a lot more fun.
You'd laugh. She'd laugh.

Okay.

She was infamous
for asking questions

that just came
out of the blue.

- What do you think
of the way you look?

- I think I look great.
- No, no kidding.

- No kidding.
- Why do I say "no kidding"?

- Yeah, hey.
- Because...

- Hey, hey, get
out of my house.

She actually had
a lot of spunk.

She was fearless.

- Do you think you're sexy?
- I know I'm sexy.

- On the scale of one to ten,
what are you?

- What am I,
on a scale of one to ten?

Oh, I think I'm about a 55.
I don't know.

[laughter]
I think I'm a happening girl.

I think what made
Barbara Walters different

from most
of the other interviewers

was that she always
found a way in.

She always did her homework.

And she always put you at ease

and then would sort of go in
for the zinger.

- What about drugs?

BETTE:
I don't really like them.

I can't do them.
I've done them.

- See, I think there are
people who'll see you onstage

and think, that's
where it comes from,

that enormous energy.
BETTE: Oh, no.

Oh, no.
No, that's totally natural.

I considered her a friend,

but I also considered her
a journalist.

So, as much as I liked her,

I felt that
I had to be careful.

She knew a lot.

- I know that you were seeing
a great deal of someone...

- Peter.
- And you just broke up--

Peter Rieger.
- "Just broke up"?

- You didn't?
That's what I read.

- Who told you that?

I didn't even know it myself!
- I read it in the--

- Well, this is embarrassing.
- Oh, that's just fine.

Stop now
because we have to reload.

- Could I have
a glass of water?

- You can have
anything you want.

BETTE: She had poise
and a presentation

that was really elegant.

She was very beautiful.

She was
very beautiful,

except that I would say
that she didn't feel beautiful

or that she didn't feel--

with her upbringing,
she didn't feel

like she belonged--

you know,
some little bit of insecurity.

But she'd never let you
see her sweat,

which is a kind of
a courageousness that is,

you know, really sublime,
really hard.

There are fronts behind fronts,

façades behind façades.

And inside is usually,
you know, the kid.

Her father was a showman,

and he had a club
in the Times Square district

called the Latin Quarter.

ANNOUNCER: Lou Walters'
fabulous Latin Quarter revue!

[fanfare playing]

[applause]

- ♪ You're walking
down the street ♪

♪ Suddenly you meet a pair
of lovers dancing along ♪

- I have lived,
I don't mind telling you,

on sex ever since I've been
in show business.

BARBARA:
My father would have been

called an entrepreneur today.

He opened his first nightclub
in Boston.

LOU:
The first impact

that my shows have is glamour.

BARBARA:
The Latin Quarter in Boston

was a huge success.

And it went on from there
to Florida to New York.

I mean, he did these gorgeous,
glorious shows.

I knew every celebrity--

Frank Sinatra and Milton Berle
and Sophie Tucker.

[applause]

On the surface,
it was wonderful.

But, you know, he came home
at 3:00 in the morning.

He slept until
1:00 in the afternoon.

It was a show-business life.

I would sit
in the lighting booth,

because I was too young
to sit downstairs,

and watch the lavish numbers

of beautiful girls
and beautiful costumes.

And then I'd see them
backstage without the makeup.

I'd hear their problems.

I learned that
celebrities were human beings,

and I have never been
in awe...

So that years later,
when I began to do interviews,

I knew that underneath
sometimes the façade

of security or beauty,
so forth,

there was a bleeding heart.

[device beeps]

Okay, we all set?

When you think about it,

if I say, what's the quickest
childhood memory

that comes into your mind,
what does?

Tell me about your childhood.

Tell me the story of your life
in two minutes, you know,

starting with "I was born,"
and then and then and then.

Okay?
- Okay.

I remember my childhood
very, very distinctly,

as if it was like
a Super 8 movie

that gets played back
in my own head.

[file reel whirring]

[solemn music]

♪ ♪

BARBARA:
I was shy, introverted.

My father said I had
an inferiority complex.

He probably was right.

I guess the word that comes
to my mind

is "lonely."

My sister was
3 1/2 years older,

but from the time
she was born,

they knew
there was something wrong.

♪ ♪

Today they would talk about it
as a disability.

And it may even be
that my sister was autistic

and we didn't know it.

My first memory is of our
going outside in the street

and a bunch of little boys
chasing us and ridiculing her,

and we ran into the house
in tears.

Well, I loved her.
She was my sister.

But I hated her.

♪ ♪

My mother was never enraptured
by show business.

The glamour of it
frightened her.

She was a very lonely woman.

I don't know that
she loved my father.

My mother had no means
of having a livelihood.

And my nightmare
was that my father

was going to lose it all.

He was a gambler by nature.

He gambled on cards,

and eventually he gambled
on the Latin Quarter.

And after years of success,
he had nothing.

Nothing.

- The lights on Broadway
are no longer

the shining gay Broadway.

BARBARA: And my father
was in great despair,

and he attempted suicide

from an overdose
of sleeping pills.

I was in my 20s,

and I had to support
my whole family.

I had to work

at a time when many women
of my generation

were not working.

CONNIE: Barbara was
the breadwinner in her family,

because her father's
nightclubs had tanked.

I supported my parents, too,

and I think that caused us,
both of us,

to feel as if we had
to have our jobs.

So both Barbara and I took on
the role of a guy.

We became men.

- Can you hear
His Majesty well?

Is his microphone too low?

CONNIE: And we had
the responsibilities of men,

and we conducted
our careers like men.

- In a man's life, women count

only if they are beautiful,
graceful,

and know how to stay feminine.

You may be equal in the eyes
of the law but not in ability.

You have never produced
a Michelangelo or a Bach

or even a great cook.

Oh, Your Majesty,
you said all these things.

So you don't feel that women
are, in that sense, equal,

that they have the same
intelligence or ability?

- Not so far.

Maybe you will become
in the future.

You can always have
some exceptions.

- Here and there.
SHAH: Yes.

But on the average, when have
you produced a top scientist?

- Madame Curie.

SHAH:
That's one.

PERSON: You've been successful
in getting a great many people

to come on your shows.

What makes them decide,

I'm going to go
on Barbara Walters' program,

and I'm not going to go on
anybody else's?

- Well, first of all,
I had heard sometimes,

oh, she gets
this or that interview

because of her contacts.

I wasn't born with contacts.
PERSON: Mm-hmm.

BARBARA: I would pick up
the phone myself.

I would write letters.
I would call.

I would...

I didn't just nag.
I nudged.

VICTOR: Barbara's strategy
was to prepare the whole world

to be interviewed by her

in terms
of her social connections.

She had a Rolodex--
millions of names.

She nurtured
those relationships.

DAVID: Hollywood, senators,
statesmen, dictators--

they came to her

because she got
people's attention

in ways that the Cronkites
of the world would not.

MARTIN: Barbara had
wide-ranging acquaintances

and friendships.

That was part of her process.

You know, I think Barbara
would be friends

with the devil
if we'd get the interview.

- His agent said to us,
"He won't do it."

I said, "Ask him."

He said, "I tell you,
he won't do it."

I said, "Ask him."

VICTOR: Often, I would
hear her on the phone

with various celebrities,
agents.

She worked it.

- Then I have my tricks,
and so that--

DAVID LETTERMAN: What would--
[laughter]

This is what we need
to know, Barbara.

What...

VICTOR:
And she always said,

no one prepares
as much as she does.

No one worries about the work
as much as she does.

- Now, where were your cards?
- My cards were down here.

VICTOR: When she prepared
for an interview,

the whole world stopped

when you were
in this session with her.

Nothing could interrupt.

- What did I do with my pen?
Oh, damn it.

You got that?
Okay.

VICTOR: And she went
through hundreds of questions,

and then she, in a moment,
said, "That's enough.

We're ready."

- This is 20/20.

[grand music]

VICTOR:
ABC launched 20/20

and suggested that Barbara
bring her big interviews.

That was really
the best place for her,

because it combined news

and pop culture
and entertainment.

ANNOUNCER:
Tonight on 20/20,

a Barbara Walters exclusive.

- Why did you kill
John Lennon?

CONNIE: She got all of these
incredible exclusives...

BARBARA:
You felt sometimes the need

to justify your own existence.

- Ranging from world leaders
to movie stars

to a person in the news.

BARBARA: What do you say
to people who say,

Dr. Kevorkian,
you are playing God?

- A doctor always plays God,
even when he gives you a pill.

VICTOR: The ratings were
very big with 20/20

because it was the only show
like that.

It was really competing
with all the big dramas.

On any given night,

10 million,
12 million people would watch.

CYNTHIA: She knew
she was in a business.

She wanted to know,
as soon as they came out,

what the ratings were,
how many people had watched,

because she knew that
that kept her at the top.

BARBARA: This adorable baby
is two years old.

He has AIDS.

So great is the fear these days

that many people
will be concerned

that I am even holding
this baby.

CYNTHIA:
She tackled some tough issues

in a way that the public
never thought about before.

- Does he hit you?

- He shakes.
He pushes.

He, um...

he swings.

REPORTER: Heavyweight champion
Mike Tyson

reportedly threw chairs
through the windows

of his $4.5 million mansion.

Apparently, it was
this nationwide interview

with Tyson and his wife that
triggered the champ's anger.

- You're sitting here
and listening to this.

How do you feel?
What do you have to say?

- This is a situation in which
I'm dealing with my illness.

And, like, basically,
like I said, this is my wife,

and we're dealing with it.

- I think many people went

into every Barbara Walters
interview saying,

I'm not going to cry,
I'm not going to cry,

I'm not going to cry,
and then, bam,

you end up doing the thing

that you thought
you most didn't want to do.

- Why the tears now, Oprah?
OPRAH: Well...

She had an intention and...

a reason for the interview.

She was looking to find
a vulnerability

that you had not offered
to the rest of the world.

At the time you're being
sexually abused, you don't know

that's what's happening.
- That's what I was gonna say.

I mean when you're a kid--
- Oh, you don't say,

"I'm sexually abused."

This is just something
that's happening.

That was the first time
that I spoke openly

about being sexually abused.

This was 1988
when that interview was done.

Nobody was talking about abuse.

I was prepared.

I wasn't prepared to go
into the ugly cry,

but I knew that if anybody
was going to have the nerve

to go there, it was going
to be Barbara Walters.

- You were not raped,
were you?

- Mm-hmm, I was.
- You were actually raped.

- I was raped.
- Did you know?

- No, I had no idea.

- What did you think
was happening?

- I'll tell you.

I remember being
at a relative's house,

and I'd been left with...

a 19-year-old cousin.

And...

He raped me.

He told me that if I ever told,

we would both get in trouble,
so I never did.

- You make me want to cry.
- Yeah.

For me, it was the...

cracking the shell...

of sexual abuse

and feeling comfortable enough
with her

to share that story
on national television

with, at the time,
20 million people.

It made it easier to talk
about it on my own show

after sharing that
with Barbara Walters.

- Thank you, my dear.
- Thank you.

MARTIN:
Barbara felt that people

looked down on her a bit

because she dealt
with celebrities.

Well, those
celebrity interviews

brought in terrific ratings
and a lot of money for ABC.

- But it really made
a lot of more, let's say,

big-J journalists angry.

- And she never believed

that she was accepted
in this "fraternity,"

as a "journalist."

- We're going to delete Shell
from the second segment.

We'll talk you through this.

VICTOR: There were
the anchors, male anchors.

Peter Jennings was
the lead anchor

for the evening news
for many of those years.

- Good evening.

It was 5:42 in the morning
outside...

BARBARA: Peter Jennings
always put me down.

I had a very difficult time
working with Peter...

very difficult.

I don't think that's why
he left, but it played a part.

- Forgive me for interrupting.
What about his relationship--

BARBARA:
He would interrupt

without any regard
for what I said,

and he never took me serious.

Once in a while, he said to
me, "That was a good report."

Like, oh, what a surprise.

I was used to working
with bullies.

When I stop to think of it
as we talk,

he was the third bully
that I've worked with--

Frank McGee, Harry Reasoner,
Peter Jennings.

It's the way
it was thought of then.

The so-called "hard news"...

a woman couldn't do it.

The audience wouldn't
accept her voice.

She couldn't ask
the tough questions.

She couldn't go
into the war zones.

REPORTER:
Muammar Gaddafi is

one of the most frightening
names in the world today--

the mysterious
strongman of Libya.

BARBARA:
He's accused of complicity

in terrorist attacks,

including this bombing of
a Berlin discotheque in 1986.

An American serviceman
was killed.

In retaliation,

President Reagan ordered
Libya bombed.

Gaddafi's own home was
severely damaged.

PERSON:
Okay.

BARBARA:
Here I come.

PERSON: Straight through
to the corner room

on your left, Barbara.

Stand there, look around,
walk out.

DAVID: She was walking
with some trepidation

through the ruins
of his headquarters

in a Chanel suit
that was Barbie pink.

I thought
she was embarrassing herself--

too New York,
too hot for the desert.

Like, what are you doing?

- Here we go.

DAVID:
And then the producer said,

no, she knows
exactly what she's doing.

BARBARA: General Gaddafi,
I'm happy to meet you.

DAVID:
That was her battle armor.

That was saying,
"I'm sophisticated,

"I'm culturally important,

"and when the cameras go on,

I'm in charge in this tent,
not you."

- You let me know
when you are ready, Martin.

I am ready.
Roll tape. Let's do speed.

So I will ask questions--
political and about your life.

VICTOR:
She was proving

that she should be respected

like one of the guys,

and I think that turned her
into a real fierce warrior.

- In our country, we read
that you are unstable.

We read that you are mad.
- [chuckles]

BARBARA: You know that those
things have been printed.

What do you say to that?

MARTIN:
She asked tough questions,

but she would be demure
about it.

- I would like to be fair
with you.

This is a recent report
that says

that you are using surrogates
to commit terrorist acts.

Would you like to see it?
GADDAFI: This is not true.

This is one of the lies.

- Well, we're trying
to clear up the lies.

MARTIN:
And she was very adept

at folding the personal
into the interview itself.

Can you tell us
about your childhood,

what you hoped to be
when you were a little boy?

- [speaking native language]

- It is so fascinating
that she asked

these incredibly powerful men

the simplest of questions,

pressing Gaddafi
about his childhood dreams.

You know, those are
the kinds of questions

that were so criticized
by male journalists--

ugh, frivolous.

I would respectfully disagree.

CONNIE: That's a great way
to get to an interviewee.

Make them human,
because they are.

- Can I take a picture to give
to you of the two of you?

Where's my camera?

Okay, look at me.
Right.

No, no, closer to your wife.

There we go.
Great.

[camera shutter clicks,
film whirs]

CREW MEMBER:
Stand by, please.

- So you think you're going
to get married again?

DIANA: I'd love to.

- Really?
DIANA: Yes.

I don't know where
he's at yet, but I would.

- What would you look for?

- Oh, someone that would
understand my kind of life.

You know, it's very difficult
for a woman in show business,

I think.

BARBARA: Is that what broke
the marriage up?

- Um, I think, yes.

- I know you don't want to talk
about guys in your life,

and I won't push it.

But you are young.
You are beautiful.

You are successful.
You are rich.

How are you going
to find anybody?

- Uh, anybody
like a guy to date?

BARBARA:
Yeah.

When I was in my 20s and 30s,

when I should
have been dating,

I was working day and night.

I didn't have
those kinds of years.

I didn't have those years
until I was in my 30s and 40s.

Mine was a very delayed...

[laughs]
Romantic period.

- Barbara had her fill...

[chuckling]
Of romance.

- [chuckles]

CINDY: She thought a lot
of guys were very sexy.

She was interested
in the possibility...

- [laughs]

- [laughing]
Of sex.

She liked it.
She liked men.

- But are you afraid
of showing emotions?

CLINT:
I don't think so.

There's certain things
I just don't enjoy sharing

with everybody else.

What's there to know?

- You would drive me nuts,
and I would drive you crazy,

because I would be saying,
but, you know, but didn't you

or haven't you or have you?

- Well, we could try it
and see if it worked out.

[laughter]

We'll start
with this interview.

If this is okay,
we get somewhere,

maybe we'll do
another interview.

I think we'll stop and reload.
[laughter]

LORI: She was never cynical
about love,

and she definitely was

a romantic kind of person,

but romance just never worked

in her life for long.

CINDY: She loved being
important to a man.

She didn't have patience
for somebody who was stupid.

She didn't love you
if you were nobody either.

You had to be somebody.

PERSON:
Alan Greenspan--attraction?

BARBARA: Because he likes
strong women,

and we both love politics.

- What kind of man
appeals to you?

- What was beginning
to depress me last year is

that I found that I was only
getting to like dictators.

[laughter]

There is a certain charm
about a dictator.

I think that there are
strong women

who are most comfortable
with a man who is weaker.

I've never felt that.

- She was obsessed
with three things.

She was obsessed
with money, fame, and power.

And when I would have
conversations with her

about her father--

Her father was a scoundrel.

He was irresponsible
with money.

He was not
a perfect family man.

A "scoundrel"
is actually the right word.

And I think she was
both horrified by that

and attracted to that.

One of the things I had
the most trouble dealing with

as her editor was her
relationship with Roy Cohn.

REPORTER: Roy Cohn may be
one of the most feared

attorneys in New York.

Super builder Donald Trump
has said,

"If you need somebody to get
vicious, hire Roy Cohn."

DAVID: Roy Cohn was
McCarthy's fixer.

He was universally disliked.

PETER: I said to her,
I would put Cohn in my top 10

of horrible people
of the 20th century.

But she loved him.

CINDY:
Roy Cohn was famous,

so it was worthwhile
for Barbara.

Barbara was famous,
so it was worthwhile for Roy.

They were two people
who loved PR.

- They talked
about getting married.

I have no idea
how serious it was, you know.

I would say to her,
but, you know, he was gay.

- Did they really do
anything together?

I don't think so.

BARBARA:
Roy was very well known

and had a great deal of power.

He would take me
to the Stork Club,

to some
of the great restaurants.

He had fascinating friends.

PETER: She did not have
the strongest moral compass.

A lot of the relationships
she developed

were career moves,

and she was
a pretty transactional person.

BARBARA: When my father
lost everything,

he also had not paid
his taxes in New York.

And Roy Cohn said,
"Don't worry about it.

I will take care of it."

- What we want to do is just
chip away at them

little by little.

BARBARA:
I don't know how he did it.

I don't know
what judges he talked to.

I forgot about ethics.

And I have been severely
criticized by my friends,

and I can understand, because
Roy did some terrible things.

But this was my father,

and he saved him.

PETER:
She didn't see things

in that kind of moral light.

That stuff was always
in the shadows.

She could forgive anyone
who was really good to her,

no matter what they did in
the other parts of their lives.

- The man
I was going out with--

is my microphone off?

Is the sound off?
I don't want to hear this.

Is the sound off?

The man whom I was going out
with last night

is quite well known
in the community.

And...

PERSON:
John Warner.

BARBARA: John Warner was
in and out of my life

since the early 1970s.

We went out a great deal,

then he married
Elizabeth Taylor.

CREW MEMBER:
Stand by, please.

BARBARA: And I did an
interview with both of them.

It was bizarre.

DAVID: Her relationship
with John Warner,

one of the great power brokers
of Washington--

did that help her land
political interviews?

Probably.

I think she cared for him
a great deal, too,

but it didn't hurt.

You can never know

about what's transactional
and what's not,

but you can wonder.

PERSON: Senator Ed Brooke.
BARBARA: Yeah.

PERSON: Massachusetts.
BARBARA: Yeah.

PERSON: Married.
BARBARA: Yeah.

PERSON: African American.
BARBARA: Yeah.

- I just think there should be
no ambiguity.

PERSON: Very distinguished.
BARBARA: Yeah.

Anything we left out?

- We all said,
"Barbara, what are you doing?

This is not quite right."

And she says, "I know,

but he's so exciting,
and he's so great."

- Much easier.

- I don't think you could see
it from where you're sitting--

It was a very different time.

Had this become public,
it would have been something

that a lot of people
would not have understood.

It had to be kept secret.

Silent? Okay.

That's very hard for me.

He had a bad marriage.

But I felt that when
it began to become public,

it hurt his chances
for re-election.

And he was
a very good senator.

Okay?

You said, "I know that this
marriage will always last.

This man gives me
everything I need."

How do you know?

- Well, I need freedom.
The man gives me freedom.

- So why get married?

DOLLY:
Well, why not?

BARBARA: I was single
more than I was married--

0 for 3.

I think I always felt trapped.

I didn't have a very good
example of marriage

from my mother and father.

And as soon as I got in it,

I wanted to get out of it.

PERSON: You are married?
BARBARA: I am.

PERSON:
Your husband, Merv Adelson,

is one of the true powers
of television

and the whole
show-business industry.

You're in New York.
He's here.

- But he comes there a lot.
PERSON: But here's a scenario.

- And I come here a little.
- Oh.

- Well, it's the price you pay
to be with Barbara, but...

- [laughs]
- He's not feeling well.

His spirits are down.

You're in New York.

You got three hot interviews
you're doing for 20/20.

You have to be
on Good Morning America.

The president of some country
that's suddenly in the news

will talk only to you.

You got to get on a plane
and go over there,

and he's here,
and he's saying,

"Honey, I don't feel
real good."

What happens to you then?

BARBARA:
I feel as guilty as can be.

- With Merv, I mean,
she was living in two places

LA and New York.

And the work always took over.

And if it didn't fulfill her
completely,

it wasn't worth her time.

- One, two, three, four.
One, two, three, four.

Okay?
- Speeding, and any time.

BARBARA: I talk to you
as a working mother

who was away a lot,
as you were, I guess.

- Yes.
- Do you feel guilty?

- Oh, yeah.
Absolutely.

You know, this was
my lifelong dream.

I wanted to be in movies

and do the things
that I've gotten to do.

A lot of people
paid the price for it,

but nobody more than my kid.

When they're looking around,

waiting for you to show up
on their birthday

and you don't come
and you said you would--

you promised, you swore...
- Yeah.

[soft music]

I didn't realize
how tough it was

because she had a mother
who was a celebrity.

We struggled through schools.

And then, finally,
at one point,

when she was 16, I guess,

she ran away.

And, finally,
when I found out...

Where she was...

I had someone pick her up...

and take her
to an emotional-growth school,

which is what it was called.

She was there for three years.

OPRAH: She had a charged,
complex relationship

with her daughter.

And, you know, I can see why.

It's one of the reasons
why I never had children.

I remember her telling me once
that there's nothing

more fulfilling
than having children,

and you should really think
about it.

And I was like, okay,
but I'm looking at you,

so, no.

CYNTHIA: It's important to say
Jackie had a father,

and Jackie had a governess.

So it wasn't that Jackie was
left alone in a playpen.

Barbara articulated many times

that she had made mistakes
as a mother,

that she had made choices
for herself, for her work.

PERSON: She'd been running
across the country,

hitchhiking with guys
you didn't know.

Drugs?

- Almost any pill
she could swallow.

Not cocaine and not heroin.

Thank heaven.

LORI:
It was a different time.

People wouldn't understand
if you said,

something was going on with
my child, I can't be there.

And Barbara needed to do
what she needed to do

to become Barbara Walters.

OPRAH: You are a pioneer
in your field,

and you are trying
to break the mold

for yourself and for women
who are going to follow you.

Then something's going
to have to give for that.

And that is why
I did not have children.

I knew
I could not do both well.

Both are sacrifices--
sacrifice to do the work,

and there's also a sacrifice
to be the mother

and to say, no,
let somebody else have that.

And at no time have I ever
heard a story, read a story--

and based on what I know
of Barbara Walters,

at no time has
Barbara Walters ever said,

"No, let someone else
take that story."

[chuckles]
No.

- Are you
a competitive person?

- Yes, I think so.
- Is it important to you

to be, say, number one
in what you do?

- If somebody gets
the interview before me

and I didn't try,
I'll be mad at myself.

I'll think, why didn't I?

Why didn't I make
that one more phone call?

ANNOUNCER:
From ABC News in New York,

this is Primetime.

- Well, good evening,

and welcome
to the first Primetime Live

REPORTER: Diane Sawyer is
now leaving 60 Minutes

and the CBS network

for a new deal with ABC
that will team her

with Sam Donaldson
in prime time.

VICTOR: Barbara did not know
why Diane was hired

to start a new news magazine
within our home of ABC

to compete with 20/20.

There was a lot of talk
about that being

a different 20/20,
a better 20/20,

a more live 20/20,
more energetic 20/20.

Barbara was unhappy.

MARTIN: Barbara saw herself as
someone who had helped Roone

elevate ABC News to a pinnacle.

And that had her
feeling betrayed

by the Diane arrival.

KATIE: In the '90s, news
magazines were all the rage.

They were popping up
like crazy.

- Move out of my way!
Excuse me!

[upbeat music]

- Did you do it?

KATIE: And big interviews
were pursued ruthlessly.

PERSON:
You guys, will you go away?

KATIE:
Lorena Bobbitt...

REPORTER: She cut off
her husband's penis

with a kitchen knife.

KATIE:
Tonya Harding...

- I would like to begin
by saying how sorry I am

about what happened
to Nancy Kerrigan.

KATIE: There were all these
big, sensational stories.

JUROR: We, the jury,
find the defendant,

Orenthal James Simpson, not
guilty of the crime of murder.

REPORTER:
Two brothers accused of

gunning down their parents...

- That was the period where
TV put news into prime time--

tabloid stories that dealt
with emotion, controversy.

REPORTER:
New details are emerging

about the police investigation
of pop star Michael Jackson.

- Her name is Heidi Fleiss,

and she is accused
of being the madam

of a high-priced
call-girl ring.

- I never, ever abused
my daughter.

KATIE:
It was a way

to get a lot of attention
for a network.

And attention led to ratings,
ratings led to dollars,

and dollars led
to happy executives.

Diane Sawyer...

- And these were people
that you had talked

about helter skelter.

You had told them--
- Sure.

- You told them
that to kill others...

- Yes, sir.
- Was to give them life.

- Yeah.
- Barbara...

- How do you feel
when they call you--

- Yeah, Wacko Jacko.
Where'd that come from?

I'm not a wacko.

KATIE:
Connie Chung...

- Is it true that he
threatened to break your legs

and end your career?

- I did one called Now
with Tom Brokaw.

We were all in there,

fighting like hell
to get these "big gets."

MARTIN:
A good get is someone

that everybody else is after,
from a movie star...

BARBARA: Hello, Eric.
- Hello.

BARBARA:
Hello, Lyle.

MARTIN:
To a murderer.

BARBARA: He doesn't need
powder on his nose?

CREW MEMBER:
They say he looks fine.

- The first
real big tabloid story

that I think everyone
was fighting for

were the Menendez brothers.

- You aren't guilty because
they found you spoiled.

- Mm-hmm.
Or evil.

- Or evil.

- Just a normal--
I'm just a normal kid.

- Oh, Eric,
you're a normal kid

who killed your parents!

- I know.

MARTIN: Barbara had a small
team of bookers...

day and night on the phone,
in and out of her office.

- I always hated the term
"booker"--rhymes with "hooker."

But...

So we went
by "editorial producer,"

which sounds much nicer.

[line trilling,
telephone ringing]

When a story breaks,

everyone's trying to call
these people at the same time.

And the most important thing
was to get it first.

We spent a lot of time
on the phone, redialing.

Speed dial
was a thing back then,

because you could just, like--
[dial tones beeping rapidly]

- You'd get on the phone
and schmooze with people.

And a lot of it involved
handwritten notes,

sucking up to the assistants.

There probably were
fruit baskets involved,

wining and dining.

It was a real courtship.

CHRIS:
It was a mad dash

of the bookers trying to go
get these interviews,

with millions
of dollars at stake.

I remember Primetime
and 20/20,

I think at the time,

were making profit
of about $100 million each.

- I still sort of have PTSD

when I see
a "breaking news" logo.

I hated writing letters
to criminals

and murderers especially.

DAVID: Barbara understood
like nobody else

how to build rapport.

She would dial the phone.

$5,000 Van Cleef, Arpels
earring

would come off the earlobe.

She would put
the receiver there,

and then the magic would start.

KATIE:
There's something unsettling

about going after people

in their worst
possible moment.

I've always tried to do it
in a way that's respectful.

I think Barbara was
that way, too.

- The thought did
go through my mind.

BARBARA:
That you wanted to die?

- Yeah, I suggested maybe
I should just check out.

And then Dana said to me,

"you're still you,
and I love you."

- And the pitch for Barbara
was that she'll be fair.

- I've never seen
press reporting

as I have with regard to me.

I mean, I wish the public
could understand

how inherently dishonest
the press is.

- As a member of the press,
let me try to clear up

some of the things
which you say are untrue.

VICTOR: When that person
agrees to do Barbara,

there's a celebration.

And it happened often.

Barbara would run
into my office

like a little girl
with a new toy.

"Oh, my God,
I have to talk to you."

You know, knock on the door.

[knocking on table]
We got this!

You know, jumping up
and down, giggling.

BARBARA:
This is a story

about crime and punishment.

MARTIN: Well, Barbara
watched Diane warily,

because she was really in
the same altitude as Barbara.

Other correspondents
were not a threat.

I think Barbara
secretly resented Diane

for being younger.

VICTOR: Roone pitted them
against each other...

- Yeah.

- Which was either
great management or diabolical.

PERSON: Tell me about
the feud with Diane Sawyer.

BARBARA: I don't think
Diane Sawyer and I had a feud.

I think people know that
we were after the same gets.

ANNOUNCER: The depth
and wisdom of Barbara Walters

and Diane Sawyer's warmth
and intelligence...

VICTOR:
They were on different floors.

Their edit rooms were
put aside

to another part of the floor--

you know, North Korea,
South Korea.

No members of our staffs
talk to each other

about what
they were working on.

- It was just a competitive
space to live in.

CREW MEMBER:
Texas cheerleader...

DAVID:
Barbara could be very wily,

and she wasn't above
dirty tricks and tactics

that were, in my experience,

beneath some
of her competitors,

in particular Diane Sawyer.

- And now the one and only
Katharine Hepburn.

CYNTHIA:
Diane had booked,

fair and square,
Katharine Hepburn.

And Barbara,
who knew Katharine Hepburn,

put a lot of pressure on Kate
to unbook and go with her.

You know, and Kate said,
"No, no..."

[imitating Katharine Hepburn]
"I promised Diane,

and I will do it with her."

- How's that for a statement?

- [normal voice]
And she did.

- If I showed up on Mars,
she would have a note there

with the Barbara Walters
stationery...

[laughing]
Just requesting an interview

with anybody
who might happen to show.

- It's the worst.

- And you see, with us,
we're competing with Primetime.

It's not just that
we're competing with you.

- It's me, and then--
BARBARA: Diane.

- And then it's you and Diane.

When Roone Arledge
came to me and said,

"I'd really like you
to come to ABC News,"

I said,
"Let me think about that.

Yes."

And I went, thinking,

well, this is very cool.

Barbara Walters is there.

Diane Sawyer is there.

We will be a triumvirate
of strong women.

How stupid am I?

Because Diane
and Barbara were in this

monstrous battle
to win stories,

and I was caught
in the middle.

CREW MEMBER:
Quiet, please.

CYNTHIA: I never had
a conversation

with Diane Sawyer

about her feelings
about Barbara.

But I had plenty with Barbara

about her feelings
about Diane,

because she was certainly--

[sighs]

Dogged by Diane's
very existence.

She often said

Diane was the perfect woman.

DIANE:
Yes, I'm ready.

CYNTHIA: She used the word,
"a blonde goddess,"

this ideal woman,

and that she, Barbara,
couldn't compete with that.

She could work harder,
she could know more people,

but she couldn't compete
with that...

"the blonde goddess."

VICTOR:
She would say, you know,

"Diane is married
to Mike Nichols.

I'm not married
to Mike Nichols."

I said, "Barbara, you can marry
anybody you want."

Her insecurities were
really nightmarish.

- What inspired you
to go into television?

I mean, did you think,
this is what I want to do?

- I was a weather girl.
- I know.

- Yes, a very bad
weather girl.

CYNTHIA: This has been
interpreted, I think,

by a lot of people to say that

Barbara was not good
to other women,

and I think that is a canard.

Not at all.

She couldn't tolerate
having Diane Sawyer rise

in what she saw
as a direct challenge

to what she had accomplished.

What a sadness.

Talk about the death of joy.

PERSON:
See you tomorrow, Barbara.

BARBARA:
Bye!

CYNTHIA: I think it tore into
all of those parts of herself

where she felt
as a child she...

was an outsider.

In some bizarre way,

Diane made her feel

all of those insecurities
all over again.

If Barbara Walters
couldn't see

what she brought to the party,

wow...

let's learn from that, ladies.

[scoffs]

But that drive that had gotten
her there, that--

it wasn't a switch
she could flip.

She was gonna show them
that she was the better woman,

that she was the better booker
to get bigger numbers.

[dramatic music]

REPORTER 1: She has never
spoken to the public.

REPORTER 2: She is a target in
this criminal investigation.

She is under pressures that we
probably can't even imagine.

REPORTER 3: No one involved
in this scandal

will emerge unscarred.

It begins with a young woman
named Monica Lewinsky.

CREW MEMBER: We do have speed.
- I'm not ready.

[laughter]

- Sitting down
with Barbara Walters

was not on my bingo card
for my 20s

for an interview.

So it was the first time

that people heard
my voice consensually.

PERSON 1: How you doing,
Monica? Monica!

PERSON 2: Monica!
PERSON 3: Monica!

You have sexual relations
with the president?

BILL: Indeed,
I did have a relationship

with Ms. Lewinsky
that was not appropriate.

MONICA:
It's understandable,

with how our news world
is set up--

you and your story
is a commodity.

PERSON: Back. Move back.
[indistinct chatter]

It's interesting to see
inside one of these stories

now that I'm out of it
and older.

One of the ways

that someone can really
lose their narrative

is when you don't engage
with the press.

- Relax, people!
Relax, come on!

MONICA:
Feed the beast--

you know, you have to give
them something.

Otherwise, they're starving,

and they're going
to say whatever they want.

- Hey, pal, get
your arms off her!

Get your arms off her!

- Leave her alone!

BARBARA: It took a full year
to get the interview.

- I want some space,
God damn it! Back!

BARBARA: And it started
with her lawyer,

whom I had to get on my side--
Bill Ginsburg.

- I remember William Ginsburg

would always hold up
his phone.

He's like,
that's Katie Couric,

or, that's Diane Sawyer.

But I always felt
that they wanted Oprah

to do the interview.

OPRAH: We had an agreement
with Monica Lewinsky's team,

and then Barbara swooped in

and said to Monica Lewinsky,

"I can give you a better deal.

"I can not only do

"a Barbara Walters
prime-time special,

"but I can offer you
Nightline.

"I can offer you
Good Morning America.

I can offer you--"

And I just had
The Oprah Show, so...

I didn't like that.

PERSON:
Monica, over here!

BARBARA: It was Dr. Lewinsky's
Los Angeles home

that Monica escaped to
two weeks ago.

And then I interviewed
her father.

MONICA:
Barbara's talk with my dad,

it was respectful
in a way that...

the foundation
of our relationship

was built brick by brick
very slowly.

The first time we met,

I remember feeling put at ease
quite quickly.

My dad had said that I had
always been such a good kid,

like, I didn't do drugs.
I didn't steal.

I didn't--you know,
I got good grades.

When you think about a kid
who gets into trouble,

I was not that kid.

And Barbara,
without missing a beat,

she was like,
"Next time, shoplift."

[laughing] You know,
so those little touches

are all things
that made Barbara Barbara.

BARBARA: I thought that
I had her trust.

But she had no money,

and she was going
to sell her story.

- We were competing
with international media.

We were competing
with people, ultimately,

that were willing to pay a lot
of money for the interview.

- I said, "Your credibility
is the most important thing."

MARTIN: It would be
a financial sacrifice

for Monica to say,
"No, I don't want your money.

I'm going to do Barbara."

So we agreed that we would air
in the United States

our broadcast
once and only once,

and she was free
to sell her story

to international broadcasters.

OPRAH: Because Barbara
had been number one,

she had been it,

she had been the madame
for so long,

that she saw that as her
rightful place in the space.

And if there was
something that deserved

a special
one-on-one interview,

I think she felt
that she was the one

that was supposed to have it.

And 9.9 times out of 10,
she got it.

- I felt like,
sitting down with Barbara,

it would--
that it would be legitimizing.

You know, there were
a number of different layers

and levels of trust

that we had to meet
in order to get to yes.

REPORTER: The first
television interview

with Monica Lewinsky
airs tonight.

It'll be an in-depth
two-hour exclusive

with Barbara Walters
on 20/20.

- She has done this interview
with no payment of any kind,

and we could ask her
whatever we wanted.

Monica, this is the first time

that you have really been
able to speak out

and say pretty much
anything you wanted to say.

- Yes.

I waited a long time

to be able to express
to the country...

how very sorry I am

for my part
in this past year's ordeal.

Barbara did a wonderful job

of trying to make me
feel comfortable,

but I was nervous throughout.

I remember
that fat stack of cards,

and I thought, oh, my gosh,
you know, how many questions?

I think there were
200 questions.

- I don't want to get
too personal, but...

whenever I say,
"I don't want to get

too personal, but,"
then you know--

- [laughs]

- It was
an uncomfortable situation.

It was such a delicate dance.

Are you going to be
hard on her?

Is she a victim?

Is Bill Clinton a perpetrator?

- The story broke.

Everyone in the country
now knew...

Monica Lewinsky.
- [sighs]

Unfortunately.

- Barbara tried
to walk that line

of being fair to her,
being a little tough.

- You were then required
to discuss

every intimate detail
of your relationship

before a grand jury.

It must have been
excruciating.

- It was very, very violating.

Without passing judgment

on whatever bad choices
I had made,

I think that she felt that
it would be unfair

for this to follow me
the rest of my life.

Is this okay so far?
- You are wonderful.

You are touching.
You are honest. You are--

- Okay. I'm just being me, so--
- I know you are.

I know you are, but I'm
telling you, it is wonderful.

CHRIS: Barbara threw a party
the night it aired.

I went downstairs
to go smoke a cigarette,

and I remember sitting out
on Fifth Avenue

in front of her apartment,

and I looked up
at all the TVs.

And every single TV

was playing
the Monica Lewinsky interview.

BARBARA:
It was the highest-rated

news interview of all time.

Nothing has surpassed it.

KATIE: There's a certain
feeling you get

when you're watching
something,

knowing that everyone
is watching the same thing

at that very same moment.

And that doesn't
exist anymore.

And I think that's
when Barbara was the queen,

getting 70 million people
to watch,

everyone processing it
at the same time.

- Where do you go from here?

- I don't know.

I think I have...

I have a lot of healing to do.

I think it was
important to Barbara

that the interview
had been something

that was positive for me.

I just had mixed feelings.

But as terrifying
and difficult

as the interview was,

I finished that day
having felt seen by her.

BARBARA:
Let's stop tape.

CREW MEMBER: Stop recording.
Please stop recording.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- Barbara, I just wanted
to go over

Senator Barbara Boxer
with you.

PERSON:
You took on a stature

that no other woman
in the business has ever had.

- Is she in?
- She's not here yet.

She should be here
in the next five minutes.

- Son graduated
summa cum laude from Ithaca.

- Yep.
- Family week.

CHARLES:
Arguably,

you are one of the most
important people

that have come along
in television news.

And at some point,
couldn't you say to yourself,

I don't have anything left
to prove?

- I always felt I had
something more to prove.

PERSON:
Okay.

BARBARA:
Quick, hurry!

CREW MEMBER:
Four, three, two...

- I've always wanted to do
a show

with women
of different generations,

backgrounds, and views.

This is that show.

The View was my idea.

I didn't know anything
about daytime television.

It was a simple idea--

different women
of different generations,

sitting together.

You're not married.
You're not married.

PERSON:
And don't want kids.

- And don't want--all right.

And in its way,
it was the first.

- The one thing
that you shouldn't take

is stuff from the White House.

- If everyone stole something
from the White House, Barbara--

[laughter]

BARBARA: People thought,
who wants to listen

to a bunch of women?

I thought, women want
to listen to a bunch of women.

I think cards are there
for us to take, not silver.

PERSON: Where was it,
and how did you steal it?

- I was visiting--

- Excuse me!
I'd like to know!

- We talked
about relationships.

We talked about pop culture.

We talked
about personal stories.

If one of us had a fight
with our husband, oh, great,

that's grist for the mill,
you know.

- Now you're even
getting dates.

You told us you never
had dates before.

- I know.
I'd always get dumped.

- Not wearing underwear.
That's what I do.

It's much easier.
What is--

ELLEN: Really?
- Yeah, I'm serious.

What is next for you?
[laughter]

- You share so much
on the show.

[cheers and applause]

LORI:
When Saturday Night Live

started spoofing The View,

they knew that
they had really made it.

- Ladies, let me tell you--

I haven't felt this girlishly
giddy since I was 70.

ANDY: There was absolutely
nothing like The View

on television at the time.

It was all about
the most controversial topics,

things that you had never seen

women talking about
on television.

BARBARA: The two brides
are married to each other,

and the men are married
to each other.

- And it was fascinating then,
and it still is.

- And as you can see,
this program is live.

It's unrehearsed.

Sometimes I wish
it were rehearsed.

JOY: I think it's very popular
because it's spontaneous,

because they don't know
what's gonna come

out of their mouths--
our mouths.

I keep forgetting
I'm on the show.

Just to hear Barbara Walters
say the words "oral sex"

is worth the price
of admission.

I mean, you never know
what we're going to say,

and I think that that's a very
important part of the show.

The arguing back and forth
can get out of control.

WHOOPI: What do you call this?
- Muslims killed us on 9/11!

WHOOPI:
No! Oh, my God!

That is such bullshit!

ANDY: I think it works because
it's live, it's topical.

It features women who have
very strong personalities,

and there's conflict
in every episode.

- You're outraged about--

Muslims killed us on 9/11.

[cheers and applause]

BARBARA:
I want to say something.

We should be able
to have discussions

without washing our hands
and screaming

and walking offstage.

I love my colleagues.

That should not have happened.

JOY:
Well, at one point,

we were on the cover of
The New York Times Magazine

as the top political show
to go to.

- You really think
that being on the show

with a bunch of women
who never shut up

is going to be calming?

- I was trying to find a show

that Michelle
actually watched.

[laughter]
And so I thought--

- And this is it.
- This is it, right here.

LORI: In the beginning,
Barbara was...

much more like Barbara
in the anchor chair.

- As you notice, I never
give opinions on anything.

PERSON: Oh, no, not ever.
- I really don't, but--

LORI: And then over time,
she loosened up.

- Okay, I agree with you.
Fine.

- Really? Okay.
- All right, then.

LORI:
She laughed a lot.

We all laughed a lot.

ANDY: It definitely allowed
another part

of Barbara Walters'
personality to show.

- How would you pick up a man

if you wanted a one-night
stand, just for sex, Barbara?

PERSON:
The same way you do it.

- How would I pick up
a man just for sex?

- I want to know how Barbara--

I want to know how--
because, you know--

- Are you crazy?

- According to surveys,
you like a lot of sex, Barbara.

- Here we go.
One, two, three.

LORI:
She was in her late 60s

when she started The View,

but she was just full
of life and energy.

- Oh!

- I think that she wanted
this show for her retirement.

She knew that her days
were numbered,

and so she wanted a show as
she went into her later years.

- She got older on air,
and she stayed there.

She would not let anybody
kick her high heels off.

ANDY:
One of the last times

I guest-hosted The View,

it was the morning
after the Oscars,

and Barbara said on the air

that she didn't really get
American Hustle.

- You didn't get it?
- I did not get it.

- I have to say,
a lot of people

of a different generation
didn't understand.

Is that bad to say?
I mean, no--

- Well, you just said it,
so, yeah.

- Soon after I said that,
they went to commercial break.

As the camera was swooping
around the table,

Barbara is lunging at me,

saying, "How dare you
insult me on my own show?"

- I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
I'm so sorry, but...

I got my ass handed to me
by Barbara Walters.

I mean, few can say that.

Or maybe a handful...

or more.

- Oh, oh, oh, excuse me...

JOY: Nothing was ever enough
for Barbara,

but that was the secret
to keep getting better

and striving all the time.

And I think that her personal
life suffered because of that.

BARBARA: Young people
come up to me and say,

"I wish I could be you.

I wish I could have
a life like yours."

And I say, "You have to take
the whole package."

I have a daughter
whom I adore,

who is simply wonderful
and went through--

and she talks about it--
a bad period.

You did this with your child.
- Yes.

- To this day--
And my daughter is terrific.

And I adore her.

She's wonderful.

To this day, I feel guilty.

[ringing, indistinct chatter]

CREW MEMBER:
Are we ready?

[indistinct chatter]

CYNTHIA:
Who's your real mother?

- Barbara.

CYNTHIA:
Jackie, Barbara's daughter,

was about as different
from her mom

as it would have been
possible to be.

Jackie never wanted
the spotlight.

So when I got a phone call
from Barbara

saying she wanted me
to interview Jackie,

I was really stunned.

The more we can forget

that the rest of these people
are here,

the more we can just talk
the way we would really talk...

- Yeah.
- The better this will be.

It was going to be
a special on adoption.

Barbara knew I was adopted.

- Why does she look
washed out?

CREW MEMBER: Because we're
still correcting the pictures.

BARBARA:
That's better.

CYNTHIA:
It was nerve-racking,

because Barbara was the boss.

BARBARA: No, let me ask
the two of you.

- All right, it's your show.

I had Barbara sitting
right there

as I'm talking to Jackie
right there, and...

I could feel her presence.

What was harder,

being adopted or being
the child of a famous woman?

- Oh, being the child
of a famous woman, hands down.

Hands down.

CYNTHIA: Because?
JACKIE: Because--

and this is where I think
the adoption came into play--

I mean, I could be
the bum down there

on the street corner's child.

That is not unrealistic.

And here I am today,

made up, dressed up,
and it's interesting,

because it's almost like
I was pasted into this world.

And yet, I want to be--

I am--

I mean, I don't want to be--
I am so regular.

CYNTHIA: Part of
the unarticulated issue is,

Barbara wanted to live
at the top of the food chain,

and Jackie wasn't
a competitive person.

Did you ever, as a child,

even in anger, say to her,
"You're not my real mother"?

- Yes, once.

But I was a pretty bad child.

JACKIE: So I did once, and I
felt pretty bad about it.

CYNTHIA: Have you ever said
that you were sorry?

- I've said I'm sorry
for so many things...

[laughs]

For putting through
all that torture.

[laughs]

That's--it's part of it.
It's all part of it.

I was sorry
for my whole teenage years.

It was awful.

CYNTHIA: I just thought
Jackie was wonderful--

very loving towards Barbara,
even though...

I knew that she and her mother

had had
a really rough relationship

when she was an adolescent.

Did we do what you wanted?

BARBARA:
Perfect, perfect, perfect!

[soft music]

Oh, wow.

[laughter]

CYNTHIA:
As she got older, I think

Barbara felt that
the relationship was shaky.

She didn't tell me
enough of the facts

to make me understand
why she felt that way,

but it seemed to me

that she felt...

that she and Jackie had
fallen out again.

♪ ♪

[indistinct chatter]

BARBARA: Look, are there times
when I look at people--

I have a friend, for example,

who's got 4 children
and 11 grandchildren.

She says, "Look at your life."

And I said,
"Look at your life,

I mean, how rich you are."

4 children, 11 grandchildren--
that's richness.

But I don't have that.
I didn't take that path.

KATIE: I felt like she
neglected her personal life

and poured so much
into her work life

that I'm not sure

she was a truly happy person.

And I remember thinking,

I want to make sure
that I have a family,

that...

I don't just have a big job.

And I always got the sense
that Barbara wishes

she had paid
more attention to that.

- I never got the sense
from talking to her

that there was one
absolute love of her life.

Her job was
the love of her life.

I mean, when she would glow,

she didn't glow talking
about the men in her life.

She would glow talking
about creating The View.

She was as driven a person
as I've ever met.

- As a matter of fact,
I talked to David Axelrod

and never would go
over your head.

When the president
was on in July,

I said, we'd love
to do something.

OPRAH: I remember having
a conversation with her

when they were canceling
the prime-time specials,

and she was saying,

"Well, no, we just can't get
the numbers anymore."

I think that was
really hard for her.

There really is no place
for a Barbara Walters...

interview now

because everybody does
their own interviews.

Everybody's on Instagram.

Everybody's on social media.

- Is everybody in position?

Are we all ready?

OPRAH:
Nobody needs an interviewer

to get them
to tell the story anymore,

because they've
already told it.

CREW MEMBER: We have some.
- Thank you.

ANDY: Barbara Walters was one
of the most trusted people

on television.

Times have changed.

There won't be
that one person anymore.

CREW MEMBER: Okay, we're just
going to roll tape.

Your mic is fine, Barbara.
- Okay.

After 25 years--

Ah, blech,
let me take that again.

CREW MEMBER:
No problem.

- Lucy, after 25 years
of doing a weekly series,

you stopped in 1974.

Then what was it like?

You got up in the morning,

and you didn't have to run
to work.

- Traumatic. Very.

Well, for the first three
or four months,

I was--I was in limbo.

I was just... in shock.

There wasn't anything I wanted
to do but go back to work.

REPORTER: After a lifetime
of groundbreaking interviews,

ABC's legendary
Barbara Walters

is stepping down.

- She wasn't going to retire--

I was about to say
"voluntarily," but it's not--

She had no plans
to retire, ever.

- It's--it's been wonderful,

and I have very...

mixed feelings,
very bittersweet feelings

because I don't know
how you say goodbye

to something like
50 years in television.

I just did
the David Letterman show,

and we were whispering
to each other.

He said, "I don't really want
to leave."

I said, "I don't really want
to leave."

[laughter]

CYNTHIA: The View had
extended her shelf life

for, you know, a good decade.

But, finally,
with tremendous anger--

not at anyone

but at the fact that...

it was inevitably going
to end--

the dimming of the light...

angry at the dimming
of the light.

- Let's raise a glass--

Barbara Walters.
ALL: Barbara!

[applause]
- Thank you.

- Showbiz, the news
was her life.

It's not like she was home,
you know,

doing papier-mâché puppets.

[chuckles] You know,
she really didn't have a hobby.

- People keep asking me
what my hobbies are,

and I think,
who has time for hobbies?

My work is my hobby.
- Right. No, exactly.

If we love our work,

then perhaps we don't have
to have hobbies.

CHRIS: When she got older

and was living
in that apartment,

it must have been
awful for her.

You know, she wanted to go out
and meet a murderer.

She wanted to interview them.

She wanted the sport of it.

That's why she woke up
every day.

- We're all set?
CREW MEMBER: Yes.

BETTE: She spoke to the
leaders of the Free World,

the unfree world--
I mean, power brokers.

I don't really know
people like that.

And I think hers was one
of the biggest lives

that had been lived
up till that time.

CINDY:
If you went into her house...

every picture was
Barbara Walters with this,

Barbara Walters with that.

Probably Barbara Walters
with George Washington.

I don't know.

She knew them all.

- Push down your tie.

What kept you going?

- Drive, some crazed drive,
knowing I was right.

DAVID: Television news,
it was Imperial Rome.

Infinite resources,

the ability to get anyone,
talk to anyone.

She was the epicenter of that.

- You have everything
the way you wanted it?

MARTIN:
You'd be hard-pressed to find

anything close
to the combination

of intelligence and grit...

- Just do a cutaway.
Then just do a cut--fine.

MARTIN: And understanding
of the medium and of people.

BARBARA: Whatever
little success I've had,

you said, I did it myself.

I thought it out,
and I listened to my instincts.

BOB: She wasn't modeled
after anyone else.

- The night has finally come
for me, and...

BOB: I think that's
actually something

people don't realize.

She is a role model,
but she created the model.

- The fact is that
you are the touchstone,

and I don't know
a single woman in this business

who doesn't come to you
at some time or the other

and say, "Help, help."

- Well, this will be cut out,
so thanks a lot.

- This will be cut out. Right.
[laughter]

- I need a--an ending.

I would like a nice,
warm, sympathetic ending.

[cheers and applause]

[soft music]

♪ ♪

OPRAH:
We all proudly stand

on your shoulders,
Barbara Walters,

as we honor you.

Please welcome Diane Sawyer,

Robin Roberts, Lara Spencer,

Elizabeth Vargas, Amy Robach,

Deborah Roberts, JuJu Chang,

Katie Couric, Savannah...

LORI:
And that day when

they brought in all
of those women to salute her

was the most touching,
beautiful day

that I could remember.

It was bittersweet.

OPRAH: And I think
she knew after a time

that what she had done
helped open the door

for women like myself

and every other woman
who crossed that threshold.

KATIE: Barbara went through
hell getting to where she was,

and I think she wanted
to be recognized for that.

And I hope she felt
our appreciation,

because I think
it was really there.

[cheers and applause,
indistinct chatter]

- I'm so proud of you.

You're back at the anchor,
and you made it.

I just want to say,
this is my--

oh, this is my legacy.

These are my legacy,
and I thank you, all of you.

[cheers and applause]

How do you hope
to be remembered?

When women say,
"Oh, you paved the way,"

I didn't do it deliberately.

I wasn't waving a flag.

I wasn't stomping my feet.

Mostly, I just worked
and didn't whine.

But what a reward that is,

to look at all of the women
now on television,

in front of the cameras,
behind the cameras,

and to feel--
not just in television--

but to feel, maybe...

♪ ♪

Maybe I made a difference.

♪ ♪

That's my ending, folks.

I don't need anything else.

♪ ♪