Barbara Walters has arguably interviewed more statesmen and stars than any other journalist in history. Ms. Walters' numerous and timely interviews -- which appear regularly on the weekly newsmagazine 20/20 and on The Barbara Walters Specials -- read like a "Who's Who" of newsmakers. She has interviewed every American President and First Lady since Richard Nixon. She made journalism history by arranging the first joint interview with Egypt's President Anwar Sadat and Israel's Prime Minister Menachem Begin in November 1977. Another of her "firsts" was an hour-long primetime conversation with Cuban President Fidel Castro -- an interview which has been printed in half a dozen languages and shown all over the world. Ms. Walters has interviewed such world leaders as Russia's Boris Yeltsin, China's Premier Jiang Zemin, Great Britain's former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Libya's Moammar Quadaffi and Iraq's President Sadaam Hussein. At the other extreme, in 1999, Ms. Walters conducted the first interview with Monica Lewinsky, which became the highest-rated news program ever broadcast by a single network. The Barbara Walters Specials are continuously the top-rated specials of the year and have included such legends as Sir Laurence Olivier, Bing Crosby, John Wayne, Bette Davis and Audrey Hepburn. More recent interviews have included Tom Cruise, Harrison Ford, Barbra Streisand, Julia Roberts, Tom Hanks, John Travolta, Ricky Martin, Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Ms. Walters' The Ten Most Fascinating People special broadcast, launched in 1993, offers a year-end review of the most prominent newsmakers of the year as well as the selection of the "most fascinating" individual. Ms. Walters' is co-owner, co-executive producer and co-host of The View, the original forum where real women discuss relevant, everyday issues and share their daily, no-holds-barred opinions and lively, colorful conversations. It consists of hot topics in the news, the best experts in their field, celebrity interviews and general entertainment. The View is the strongest performer among total women 18+ in ABC's 11:00 a.m.-12:00 noon, ET time period in 10 years. Among women 18-49, The View is the strongest performer in ABC's 11:00 a.m.-12:00 noon, ET time period in eight years. The View premiered in August 1997 and is broadcast live from New York City. Ms. Walters also serves as co-executive producer for Buena Vista Television's syndicated talk show Iyanla, hosted by Iyanla Vanzant. The program promises to be a bold hour of television that is entertaining, fu
Barbara Walters