Origin

Born in Boston, Walters was raised around celebrities due to her father's involvement in show business. She attended private elementary schools in New York, and graduated from high school in Miami Beach, Florida. At the age of 22 she graduated from Sarah Lawrence College, a New York liberal arts college, with a BA in English. 

Character Evolution

After leaving school she held a few jobs in low-level media positions before gaining employment with the Today show in 1961. She became what was known as a "Today Girl," a young female reporter tasked with reporting on light stories and the weather. By 1962 she had begun exercising more control over her reporting. Though she hosted alongside Frank McGee, she was kept from being named full co-host due to his objections. She received the title in 1974, after his death. In 1971 she became the host of Not For Women Only, where she remained for five years. In 1975 she won her first Emmy for her work on Today. In 1976 she left her hosting duties on Today and Not For Women Only, taking work as an anchor on ABC Evening News. She remained there for two years, during which she had a poor relationship with her co-anchor, Harry Reasoner. In 1979 she began working for 20/20, becoming a host in 1984. During this time she continued to work for ABC, covering numerous news events and mediating in a presidential debate. In 1997 she co-created the daytime talk show The View, for which she also acts as occasional host and co-executive producer. She went into semi-retirement in 2004, leaving 20/20, but continuing to contribute occasionally to ABC, as well as continuing her association with The View. She also has a Sirius XM radio show, Here's Barbara. In 2007 she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2010 she underwent heart surgery because of aortic valve stenosis.