Barbara Walters, news pioneer and 'The View' creator, dies

Barbara Walters, the intrepid interviewer, anchor and program host who blazed the way as the first woman to become a TV news superstar during a career remarkable for its duration and variety, has died at the age of 93.ABC broke into its broadcast to announce Walters' death on air Friday night.

During nearly four decades at ABC, and before that at NBC, Walters’ exclusive interviews with rulers, royalty and entertainers brought her celebrity status that ranked with theirs, while placing her at the forefront of the trend that made stars of TV reporters.

Late in her career, she gave infotainment a new twist with “The View,” a live ABC weekday kaffeeklatsch. In May 2014, she taped her final episode of “The View” amid much ceremony and a gathering of scores of luminaries to end a five-decade career in television. During a commercial break, a throng of TV newswomen she had paved the way for posed with her for a group portrait.