Broadcast pioneer Barbara Walters has died at 93. The famed journalist had an illustrious career that spanned several decades, and she is credited with paving the way for women in the news industry. Outside of the newsroom, she led an extraordinary life as well. Her love life, while rarely talked about, was rather unique. Walters was married to three men over the years, but technically she had four separate marriages.
Barbara Walters’ first marriage was incredibly brief
Barbara Walters married Robert Henry Katz in 1955 in a lavish ceremony at the Plaza Hotel. The marriage wasn’t nearly as magical as the wedding, though. In her book, Audition: A Memoir, Walters recalled regretting the relationship before she ever walked down the aisle. She noted that her first husband was handsome and successful but difficult to talk to. She said that while he wasn’t a bad person and was decent to her, they had nothing in common.
In her book, Walters contended that the marriage was so brief that she likely wouldn’t know Katz if she walked into him. She also said that the union was so short that her father didn’t believe it “counted.” Walters and Katz ended their union in 1957 after less than two years of marriage.
Barbara Walters married Lee Guber in the 1960s
Walters’ second trip down the aisle was to Lee Guber and far more successful than her first. Guber, a theater producer, was someone not terribly unlike her first husband. He was successful, good-looking, and considered a prize among women in their social circle. There was something that set him apart from her first husband. Walters found him easy to talk to.
Guber and Walters married in 1963. An announcement of the couple’s marriage ran in the New York Times. Despite their connection, Guber and Walters couldn’t make their marriage work. They divorced in 1976 after 13 years together. Guber died in 1988 from brain cancer. He was 67.
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Barbara Walters’ third and fourth marriages were to the same man
Following the end of her second marriage, Walters spent five years single. She went on to marry Merv Adelson, a real estate developer and producer. According to The New York Times, the couple met on a blind date and married in 1981. The marriage didn’t last long; Walters and Adelson divorced in 1984.
Just two years later, they had a change of heart. The couple reconnected and remarried in 1986. They divorced again in 1992, but there weren’t hard feelings. Walters once described Adelson as a kind and gentle soul. She revealed that they maintained a friendship for years after their second marriage ended.
Did Barbara Walters have children?
Barbara Walters has one daughter. The famed broadcaster adopted a baby girl named Jacqueline Dena Guber in 1968 with her second husband, Lee Guber. The decision to adopt came after Walters had several miscarriages. An official announcement didn’t follow. Walters later recalled that she opted not to announce her child’s arrival because she worried her biological mother would learn who had adopted her child.
In 2002, Walters and her daughter sat down for an interview with Jane Pauley. The NBC News interview covered Jackie’s troubled childhood, how Walters’ fame affected her and what she had become as an adult. At the time, Jackie was running a wilderness program for troubled teens. Walters’ journey to and through motherhood might not have been easy, but she often noted that having a child made her life complete.
Jackie has not issued a statement regarding her mother’s death at this time.
