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Barbara Walters, a superstar and pioneer in TV news, dies at 93

Barbara Walters, a superstar and pioneer in TV news, dies at 93
Barbara Walters, a superstar and pioneer in TV news, dies at 93 00:19

NEW YORK (AP) — Barbara Walters, a pioneer as TV news' first woman superstar, has died, according to ABC News. She was 93.

Her cause of death was not immediately known. Other details, such as where she died, were not immediately released.

Barbara Walters
Barbara Walters attends the 2015 Time 100 Gala at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 21, 2015 in New York City.  Andrew Toth/FilmMagic/Getty Images

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

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